Soaring High
by MaximumLovee
Summary: This story is filled with drama as Max and her flock get a little bigger. New characters (possibly sharing the same DNA) are introduced and its a race against time as they fight to keep their flock safe. New powers, new members, and new threats like Jeb, Erasers and maybe even one of their own? R&R! Rated T just in case :)
1. Soaring High

**A/N: This is more of a leisure story with out _too_ much action. There is still action and fighting but that is not the main focus. The story will focus about them at school, going places, jumping from place to place, and all the "normal" things that they come across and do.. Anyway, hope you enjoy my story! **

**-Shyla**

Chapter 1:

You know those moments when you feel like you don't exactly fit in? Yeah? Well, that's pretty much my life 24/7. The flock and I are different. And not in a bad way… I mean in a completely amazing, breathtaking way. We're genetically enhanced with wings. So essentially, we're 97% human, 2% avian, and 1% pure awesome. Okay well not really but whatever. Don't get me wrong; I still hate the scientists or white coats as we like to call them but I have to be honest. I don't know who I'd be, or whom my family would be with out my avian DNA. I wouldn't be Maximum Ride.

I'm not a cocky person but I'm basically a legend in my Flock. I hate to admit it, but I can pretty much do anything… besides that educational stuff, as if any of that is even useful. I've done it all… I've destroyed Itex, killed a LOT of people who deserved it, saved multiple lives and all while "mothering" my flock. Some people need money and material things to keep them going in life but as long as I have my flock by my side, they're all I need to keep me going. Lets go back to the part where I said that education is useless. Well, maybe I lied I little. Education _is_ important to _some_ people because otherwise, the world would be overrun with stupid people. I like to think that I'm smarter than the average bird because I actually have common sense unlike those incompetent white coats. Seems to me, like they forgot to add "Ethics" as a course in high school and if they did, they failed miserably. They'll do anything to "further science" as they like to put it. They have absolutely no feelings; they like to hurt innocent beings without even the slightest bit of guilt. Which is exactly why it irritated me to no extent that there was a white coat standing right in front of me with a nervous grin on his face.

"Are you freaking _kidding_ me?" I whined.

"N-number 273, y-you will obey!"

"Did you just actually refer to me as a number?" I sneered.

"You will cooperate with us this time." He looked behind me at my flock in surprise as if he'd never known of them before.

I widened my posture a little to protect my flock. I could see a black blur coming from the side in my peripheral vision. I concentrated on the white coat and didn't know whether to laugh or throw up. His face was dripping with sweat and it was all red and puffy like a blowfish. And if you've never seen one, well let's just say they ain't cute.

"What?!" I exclaimed in mockingly. "Did they not give you the complete file of the amazing Maximum Ride?"

Normally, I would have already knocked him unconscious with a punch in the chest. However, he was clearly a nervous wreck and this was probably his first assignment so I decided to have a little fun with it. I stepped forward with a murderous look on my face.

"Here's something that's not in my file that you might find interesting. We used to have 7 members of the flock. Until one unfortunate day when little Sammy decided to steal my favorite shirt and I decided to get revenge. All it took was one look and poof! He was gone. Sometimes, I wish I could have done something a little more extravagant."

The white swallowed nervously and took a few steps back. But I wasn't done yet. I would never be done until the day they stop hurting and killing innocent children.

"You know that saying that says 'if looks could kill, you'd be dead'? Well, if I were you, I'd start running because _this_ look _can_ kill."

At this point, he was trembling which I thought was quite amusing. I roundhouse kicked him in the chest and he fell like a pile of bricks. We all stood there for a minute almost hoping for him to spring back up and start fighting.

"Well that was easy." said Gazzy stating the obvious.

"Almost too easy..." Iggy cautiously walked over and felt his pulse.

"He's not dead but he'll be unconscious for a while."

A wave of relief immediately came over me because I knew that my flock was safe.I turned around to look at my flock. They we're all grinning at me…. minus Fang. He managed to give a satisfying smirk.

I led my flock out from the alley behind the motel we were staying at. I mentioned my flock to go ahead and that I'd catch up in a few seconds. Looking around, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride wash over me.I took one last look at the white coat lying on the ground, turned around and took off. Within seconds, I gained altitude and had caught up to my flock. _This _is what I love... soaring high and feeling invincible.


	2. A little too harsh?

**A/N: Hey guys! I hoped you liked my previous chapter! This chapter is a little more sentimental.. I haven't included Angel or Nudge in it too much. Next chapter, they're all in it though. Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**P.S. James Patterson owns the series, Maximum Ride and Maximum Ride characters. All OC's will be mine. **

**-Shyla**

**0000000000000000000000000000****000000000000000000000000000****000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 2:

I looked down at all the city lights and couldn't help but wonder… _What are people without wings doing right now? Going on a date, watching a movie… who knows… eating pie maybe? _I look to my right. I see Iggy and Gazzy- Iggy being closest. On the left of me is Fang and past him is Nudge and Angel. Angel always prefers to be farther out than everyone. Even though she is still only 7 years old, she seems as if she is older than me… and I'm 16 years old. Sometimes I wish I could read minds like her. But, knowledge is a burden and unfortunately, the littlest bird had to carry that burden.

I looked at Fang and tried to read his mind. His hair had grown a bit since his last hair cut and it was now at a perfect length. His bangs were covering his eyes but not completely. His brows were slightly furrowed in and he seemed to stare blankly ahead. Then he looked at me and smiled smugly. I gave a small smile and looked ahead again. Then I realized something… the constant chattering on my right had stopped a while back. I gazed to my right and only saw clouds.

"Guys, where's Gazzy and Iggy?"

Everybody whipped their heads to my right. I looked in all directions but couldn't see them.

"Gaz? Ig?" Silence. "Guys! This isn't funny!"

_Okay don't completely panic yet_. _Be calm. _

"GAZZY! IGGY!"

Keeping my face stoic, I instructed. "Nudge and Angel, search a bit ahead and behind a few times. Fang and I will go down a couple miles. If you see anyth-" CRASH.

Then, before I knew it I was barreling towards the ground at a terrifying speed. Extended my wings completely out to catch the air. I bent the tips of them to make a vertical U-turn in the air and shot back up. A flash of blonde hair and a battle cry was all it took to realize what had happened.

"ARE YOU BOTH CRAZY?" I was so mad at those two. "WHAT were you guys thinking? I thought that the flyboys had taken you or something! Next time a flyboy _really_ takes you, DON'T expect me to come after you guys."

Iggy was shaking with laughter. Gazzy puffed up his face and tried to look girly. "What were you guys thinking? Are you guy's crazy? I almost had heart attack!" He waved his hand around and put both hands on his chest for a dramatic element.

Gazzy's talent of mimicking voice was not the least bit amusing right now. "That was not right Gazzy and you know it!"

Defensively, "Why are you only yelling at me? Iggy did it too!"

"But it was your idea wasn't it?"

"Well yeah… but-"

"NO BUTS. Iggy you were just as much as part of this as Gazzy was."

Then, interjecting my rant, a thought came to mind. I remembered that we had only been flying for a couple hours and that the motel was only a short distance back. That means that the white coat might have waken up by now and is calling for backup.

"We've got to get a move on we can't be in the same area for too long. We slowed down because of you two. If the white coats catch us and take us back to the school, it'll be your fault." I glared at them and shot forward.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

We had been flying for an hour since that whole ordeal. It was almost midnight and I knew that everyone was tired and need to sleep but I really didn't want to be the first one to speak after that whole incident. I was still waiting for an apology from Gaz and Iggy.

"Don't you think you were a little harsh, Max?" A deep, husky voice asked.

"No. They scared us half to death, I could have gotten injured, and they slowed us down."

"They're just kids, Max."

"Iggy's the same age as us."

Fang gave me a look that I knew far to well. It's that look that he gives me when he thinks I'm being stubborn.

"Okay _maybe_ I was a bit harsh on them with bringing up the school everything but they did slow us down."

"Max." He gave me a rather disappointed look.

"What?"

He nodded towards the boys. I turned my head and realized that I really hurt them. Gazzy had his eyes fixed on the city lights down below and his hair was covering his eyes. Iggy was fiddling with his watch and was talking quietly to Gaz. I couldn't make out what they were saying but I think Ig was comforting him?

"Oh." _Wow maybe I did go too far with bringing up the school_.

I looked back at Fang but he was staring ahead again. I glanced at Angel and Nudge. They were fighting hard against their sleep but it looked like they were losing.

"Looks like we could all use some sleep. Lets head down."

I flew downward at an angle towards a well-lit side of a town. As we got closer we spiraled inwards in huge arcs, getting narrower as we lowered our altitude to avoid from being seen. Even though it was almost 2 am, you never know who might spot us.

After walking in silence for a while, we came across a wooded area and decided to crash here for the night.

"Alright everyone. Two in a tree and stay nearby."

Angel and Nudge practically passed out right there of exhaustion. They flew up to the nearest tree they could find. They would be out within a minute. I looked at Gaz and Iggy. Iggy was carrying Gaz, which is _really_ strange since we haven't carried him like that in ages. I knew this was my fault.

"Hey Ig, I'll take Gazzy. Why don't you and Fang find a tree? You can take first watch."

Iggy hesitated before giving Gazzy to me.

"It's okay Ig. I got this."

Iggy understood that I was trying to make amends with Gazzy so he finally gave him to me.

Iggy whispered without looking me in the eyes. "He's really bummed out Max. You really hurt him."

"I know Iggy. You know I would never mean something like that right? I just got really freaked out when I could find you guys. You know, especially since a white coat just found us out couple hours ago. I was on edge but I shouldn't have reacted like that. I'm sorry." I felt really bad. I don't show emotion very often so saying that I'm sorry was a huge step for me.

"Did Max just say sorry? Fang! She just said she's sorry!" He exclaimed in mock surprise.

I gave him a soft glare and walked off to find a tree. I picked one right next to the one Fang was in. I knew Iggy would be joining Fang in a few seconds. I settled on a wide branch, near the middle of the tree. I placed Gazzy on the branch next to me.

A quiet Gazzy spoke out. "Hey Max, I forgive you. I know you just care about us."

I stared fixated at a leaf. "You heard?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry Gazzy. If we _do_ get caught and get taken to the school, it'll be my fault. Not yours. It's my job to protect the flock and I would have failed you IF that ever were to happen."

"Its okay Max."

I looked over at the half-asleep Gazzy. He looked so innocent and young with his blonde hair over his eyes like that. I pushed his hair out of his face and kissed his forehead lightly.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

I leaned back and looked around. Iggy was on watch first so I looked over at him. Was he falling asleep already? I made sure Gazzy wouldn't fall out of the tree and flew over to Iggy.

"Yo Ig, I change my mind. I'll take first watch. You need to get some sleep."

"What about you? You need some sleep too."

"Come on, when was the last time I couldn't function without sleep?"

Iggy sighed sleepily. "Thanks Max. And thanks for apologizing to Gaz."

"We are _never_ bringing up the apologizing thing again."

Smiling, Iggy snuggled in and his breaths became steadier. I flew back to my tree and sat up next to Gazzy. I glanced at Angel and Nudge who were fast asleep. I looked at Fang and almost fell out of my tree. He was staring right at me.

"_You scared me!" _I mouthed to him.

He just smiled knowingly and leaned back.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**A/N:**

**FAX or no? ****I need some input on the plot of the story... It doesn't have a particular plot cause I'm just thinking of the chapters as I go along.. I'm not a big romance fan so I'm not sure If I wan't to do Fax.. What do you guys think? Should Max and Fang be a thing or not? **

** I have some free time nowadays so I'm going to _try_ to upload every 2 or 3 days. Or maybe even everyday if I get time... :)**

**-Shyla**


	3. Captured

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't uploaded for a week but I had exams last week so I hope you guys understand. Please review! I really want to know what you're opinions are! So since no one reviewed, I decided that FAX will be a thing later on but not right now. **

**~Shyla**

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 3:

I woke up in the dark. I was drenched in sweat and it smelled like chemicals. I felt around but could only feel cold walls all around me and they were way too close for comfort.

"We're in a cage Max."

Iggy. He was here. That means the rest of the flock must be close. Wait. Did he say cage? How did we get from sleeping peacefully in a tree to in a freaking cage?

"Are you serious? Again? I don't remember anything since we slept. I was on watch but I don't even remember seeing anything... How could that have happened?"

"Yeah I didn't hear anything either… I woke up about an hour ago… I'm surprised it took you so long to wake up." Iggy stated amused.

"Yeah well I was tired." I squinted and tried to see in front of me. "Let me try to get a hold of Angel."

"Yeah good idea, I already tried about 30 min ago. She isn't awake yet but she might be now."

'_Angel? Honey its Max. Where are you? Are you awake?' _

'_Max! I'm in the room next to you!'_

"Oh thank god." I turned in the direction of Iggy's voice. "She's in the room next to us."

'_Are you okay? Have they done anything to you yet?'_

'_No.'_

'_Can you hear their thoughts?'_

I could feel her hesitation somehow. I knew this was bad. I knew they were planning something. We hadn't been caught or found for 6 months…. Besides that one night so it had to be something big.

'_Angel, what is it? You can tell me.' _

'_It's really bad Max.'_

She paused for a second.

'_They aren't going to do anything to us... They're going to do something to you and Fang. I don't know what it is but I'm scared!'_

Angel was sobbing. It takes a lot for one of us to cry so for Angel to be crying told me that what the white coats were planning must be really twisted.

"Max? What did Angel say?"

"She said that the white coats are planning something really bad and its really sick. She was sobbing… and…"

"Sobbing? And what?"

"She said they were only going to experiment on me and Fang. I don't know what they're going to do with the rest of you."

"You have a plan right? You always have a plan… Please, _Please_ tell me you have a plan."

"I have a plan, of course, I have a plan. Like you said, I always do. But… the problem is, I'm not so sure this is going to work."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

'_Angel you got it? Tell the others.' _

I sighed nervously. "This time I think they have a lot of security measure so make sure you're alert. Once we get out, you're spotting Gazzy like always. Got it?"

I always partnered them up to spot someone when fighting. That way, we'll always be aware of who's doing what. I tried to pair the older with younger so everyone is protected. Iggy and Gazzy is a lethal pair when together, they know each others fighting type and not to mention they always have some kind of explosive on them at all times. Although it doesn't seem like a compatible pair, Fang and Nudge are amazing when fighting together. Fang has a protective instinct about Nudge that makes him an amazing guardian. When we were all growing up in the school, they were caged together and Nudge loves Fang like a fatherly figure. And Angel and I, I don't know what it is. We have a bond. She's my baby and I love her. I basically mothered her when she was growing up. I would do anything for my flock. If any of them got hurt, I don't know what I'd do with myself.

"I hear footsteps." Iggy whispered.

'_Angel! Get ready…" _

The door opened and the white light almost blinded me. It obviously had no effect on Iggy but I saw him flinch anyway. I looked past the white coat and saw a hallway. Luckily, our room was at the end and I could see all the other rooms. I saw a room next to ours that was labeled as 'Avian Specimens Room 1'. I'm guessing we were Room 2. I also saw a window at the very end of the hall. You'd think they'd be smarter about that considering all our other escapes.

The white coat walked up to us and looked in my cage.

"Hello Maximum. We're going to need you for a short while."

"Are you seriously giving me a choice? I mean really. I'm in a freaking dog cage."

"You will cooperate with us or one of the members of your little fan club might not be there any longer."

"Ugh fine. I'll come. But only if you promise that nothing will happen to the rest of my flock."

"I can assure you that your cooperativeness will ensure that nothing will happen to them."

He started to undo the lock on my cage. I was ready to pounce on him the moment he opened that door. I glanced at the clipboard in his hand and froze. I couldn't breathe. It said 'Mating techniques in Avian-Hybrid species'. Mating. I had to see what they wanted with us first.

'_Angel! We have to delay the escape. I have to find out what they're doing with us first.' _

I climbed out of the cage. I looked at Iggy and he was sitting back in his cage so I knew Angel had sent the message to everyone already. It literally took all of my self-control to not punch the white coat.

We walked down the hallway past three rooms into a giant conference room. Fang was already in there.

"Good morning, Max! How are you today?" I perky blonde asked us. Jesus Christ she was loud.

"Just peachy. How about you stay in a dog cage in pitch blackness for a day and tell me how you feel?"

She continued to begin what looked like a presentation?

"Sit down next to Fang, Max. We're doing a wonderful experiment on mating techniques and we think that it would be extremely beneficial for you and Fang to understand how this is to happen."

Wow this is making me seriously uncomfortable. I'm only sixteen. And the fact that they want Fang and I to have intercourse actually doesn't surprise me at all. These people are so twisted. I looked at Fang. He jaw was set and he was shaking his leg so much I was surprised they didn't ask if it was a seizure. His cheeks were a little red, which I thought was hilarious because Fang doesn't get embarrassed but this time, he was.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Oh god. That was the most awkward thing ever. The presentation was 15 min long and it was the _longest_ 15 minutes of my life. We had been put in our cages about 5 minutes ago and my mind was reeling. I was formulated a plan to get the heck out of here. There was _no_ way I was doing what they wanted us to do. No way in hell.

'_Angel. Original plan. We're going do it as soon as the white coat comes to take Fang and I.' _

'_Got it.' _

"Max, what were they going to do to you?" Iggy asked nervously.

I coughed uncomfortably. "Uh… mate."

"Oh my gosh! With Fang? I can't believe they would do something like that! Max I am so sorry."

"Sorry about what? They haven't done anything yet!" I probably seemed calm on the outside but inside I was so scared. I was shocked. I was… all kinds of emotions.

The white coat walked up to my cage and fidgeted with the lock.

I coughed to signal Iggy.

As soon as my door was open, I attacked. I clawed my nails down his face; I punched him, and kicked him. Within seconds, he was down. I ran to Iggy's cage and ripped the lock apart. He climbed out and we sprinted towards Room 1.

A white coat was already on the ground; I'm guessing the workings of Fang. He was working on Angels lock. Iggy and I ran to Nudge and Gazzy and undid their locks. We ran to the window at the end of the hallway. Iggy busted it open and jumped. We all followed after him.

Fang grabbed Angel's waist and pushed her out the window. Then, Fang and I were the only ones left. He held his hand out gesturing me to go before him. Before I could respond, I was grabbed by my waist and pulled backwards.

An eraser. I felt something pierce my back. I tried to fight as much as I could. If only I could take down this one eraser… the window…. It was right there... The last thing I saw Fang collapsing to the floor. Then, blackness.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Ohhh PLOT TWIST. What will happen to Max and Fang? **


	4. Comfort at home

**Haven't updated in a while but here is a filler chapter while I write the next one. I decided to put a little FAX but not over the top. **

**Hope you enjoy! **

**-Shyla**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 4:

"Max? She's not awake! Is she dead? Dr. Martinez, what's wrong with her? She can't be dead! Max wake up, MAX!"

I slowly blinked my eyes. I saw very worried cocoa brown eyes over me.

"Nudge?"

"MAX! Guys she's awake!" She practically screamed in my ear.

"Do you need a bullhorn or are you good?" I said sarcastically.

"Max! Max! Max! Iggy said that I'm almost to his level of expertise in bombs! Can you believe it? He's gonna teach me how to wire a bomb with a timer tomorrow!"

Gazzy said this with a dreamy look in his eyes that frankly, was a bit scary.

"That's great Gaz… oh by the way I'm fine." I joked.

"Oh right, what happened?"

"Actually that's what I'm trying to figure out right now…" I thought to myself.

'_What did actually happen? I remember we were about to make our escape when…. I saw Fang, and I blacked out? They wanted us to mate? Ah whatever. I'm out now right? That's all that matters.' _

No matter how much I wanted to forget what I saw at the school, I just couldn't. Fang obviously knew. I was going to have to tell him to forget about it because it's over now.

"_Fang!_"

"Guys, where's Fang?" I looked around the room. I was in Dr. Martinez's room in their house. Arizona.

"OH he was SUPER tired so we told him to sleep but he said that he didn't want to but he was obviously really exhausted but he kept resisting and got kind of frustrated so we just left but he hasn't really came out of the room that he was in so I guess he's sleeping." said Nudge.

"Oh." I replied.

"I'm not sleeping." Fang's voice suddenly came out of nowhere.

I looked to see Fang leaning on the doorframe.

Fang coughed uncomfortably which was directed at Nudge.

"Oh right! Sorry! I'll go check on… um… some stuff?" Nudge nervously inched towards the door and past Fang.

"You should have slept Fang. You're going get sick."

"I was worried."

"About what?" I asked.

Fang just looked at me silently.

"Oh that." I suddenly got uncomfortable. "Don't worry about it Fang. We're fine."

"Hm."

I looked him straight in the eyes. He needed reassurance.

"Fang. Look at me. We are fine. It's okay. We're out now. Nothing is going to happen."

"Hm. Whatever the leader says."

"Yeah that's right" I stated half cocky and half joking. "Now go away. I'm sleepy."

"Me too." Fang said quietly.

He slipped into my bed and pulled the blanket over both of us.

"Fang, what are you-"

"Shhhh. You're preventing my beauty sleep."

I smiled and felt immediate comfort knowing that Fang was so close. I listened to his breathing and observed his chest rise and fall. I turned around and fell into the most comforting sleep I've had in a _long_ time.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000


	5. Just a little alone time

Chapter 5:

I lay there staring at the ceiling. Fang was still asleep next to me. His hand moved across my stomach in his sleep. I looked at the clock- 5 AM. I didn't feel like sleeping anymore because I probably slept really early yesterday. I wanted to get up but I was afraid of waking Fang. His dark black hair framed his olive face perfectly. He lay on his stomach facing me. I slowly lifted his hand off of me and carefully slipped out of the blankets.

"Where are you going?"

I flinched. "You were awake?! For how long?! Geez… might as well be invisible."

Fang became completely still and slowly faded into the bed until he really was invisible.

"Thanks. I got it." I rolled my eyes slightly annoyed.

Fang reappeared and smirked at me. "You never answered my question."

I just smiled at him and walked over to the window. I lifted the latch and stepped out onto the ledge. I looked back and Fang and nodded at him to join me. I turned back and leapt up towards the sky before falling a couple feet and opening my wings. I gracefully arced up and waited for Fang.

He stood on the ledge of the window and was looking at me intently. I blushed and flew a couple feet away.

_Why am I blushing? Stop blushing! It's nothing to be embarrassed about! _

The flock has been teasing Fang and I about having a "thing" for a while now. Of course we liked each other… we just haven't admitted it to each other yet and I don't intend to anytime soon. I can't be distracted when we are constantly being chased, I can't afford to be distracted.

I looked back at the ledge. Dammit! Fang was still looking at me.

"Are you coming or what?" I yelled.

He did a front flip off of the ledge and opened his wings and arced up towards me. His black wings almost blended in with the night sky and almost put my powerful wings to shame.

"Nice touch." I said laughing at him.

"Eh… I was feeling it I guess." He looked straight ahead with a smirk.

He led me up and we hovered there for a while looking at the city lights further away from the dark wooded area where Dr. Martinez lived.

"Lets go over there." I pointed towards the cliffy area that we were quite familiar with from previous experiences.

We flew in unison towards the mountainous area. The sun was rising behind us and created a shadow of our wings below us. We reached the cliffs and Fang landed first. I circled once before I landed. I flew towards Fang but just as a touched my foot on the edge, a hawk barreled into to me and I lost my balance.

"Quick, grab my hand!" I yelled. I usually don't ask help from anyone but my wings were already half way pulled in and if I snapped them out, they would for sure break. Not to mention there was a flock of hawks about 15 feet below me.

Fang grabbed my waist and pulled me in. He kept his hand on my waist for a couple seconds before letting go.

"You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine… what I'm more concerned with is why a hawk barreled into me." I peered over the edge and observed the hawks.

"Maybe something was chasing them?"

"Paranoid much?"

"We have a reason to be paranoid." I said pointedly.

"Touché" Fang chuckled.

After observing the hawks for a couple minutes, I decided that there was nothing to worry about and that they were just having a little fun.

"Better?"

"Much." I sat down with my legs over the edge and looked at Fang. I patted the area next to me.

He walked over and sat next to me, our shoulders almost touching.

"So how long?"

"How long what?"

"How long are we staying here before we run off? You know we can't stay in the same place for long." The wind picked up and tousled Fang's hair.

"Hmm … I was thinking of staying here for a couple days or so and then going somewhere southeast? Or at least anywhere far from the school. Now that we know their plan, they'll want us more than ever."

Fang shifted at the mention of the school.

"We can't tell anyone about their plan, Fang." I turned to face him. "Fang. Promise me, you won't tell anyone about the school's plan."

"What if it already happened?"

"That's impossible- "

"Remember we both blacked out before we left? Have you forgotten that there's a huge gap between us blacking out and how we ended up in Dr. Martinez's house?"

"Fang!" I grabbed his shoulders and look him in the eye. "Don't worry! I'm sure that if anything actually happened, I would know. What matters now is that we're all safe… okay?"

He narrowed his eyes and nodded. I knew that he didn't believe what I was saying and I failed in reassuring him. But I needed to convince myself.

We watched the horizon and sat there in silence until the sun was shining bright.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"We should go back now. The others are probably worried about us."

Fang nodded slightly as an agreement and we both jumped off together and flew towards the house. After flying for about 10 minutes, I decided that it was too quiet.

I cleared my throat. "Hey Fang, why'd you sleep in my bed?"

"Cause it's more comfortable than the sofa they dumped me on."

"Oh." I glanced at Fang. He was looking away with his hair over his eyes.

I pulled my hair out of my ponytail and let it go free in the wind. I closed my eyes for a second and just enjoyed the feeling. As we neared the house, I opened my eyes and we began to circle down. We landed just behind the house. Fang almost tripped over the hose that was snaked around the backyard garden. I grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

Laughing, I said "Who's saving who now?"

"I'd hardly call that saving." Fang smiled.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**A/N: So I decided to put a little FAX haha. Like I said before, I'm not a big romance fan but recently I've been LOVING Max and Fang romance 3 **

**Also I read the new book, Maximum Ride Forever, like 2 months ago and I LOVED IT. I might use some concepts later on in this story. *hint hint* **

**~ Shyla**


	6. I just told him what!

**A/N: Hope you like this chapter! I made this kinda long-ish. I realize that Angel hasn't really talked at all in this story except in Chapter 3 so that will definitely improve later on haha. **

**~Shyla**

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 6:

"I smell bacon… I bet Iggy's making breakfast." Fang and I started walking around the side of the house to the kitchen door when we heard Nudge run from the garage door to Gazzy.

"Oh-em-geeeee! Guess what, guess what, guess what!" Nudge screamed at the top of her lungs.

"NOOO! Don't step on that or you'll explode!" Gazzy protectively covered his equipment.

"I don't care! GUESS WHAT!"

Groaning, Gazzy replied. "What Nudge?"

"Max and Fang are gone! Angel said that they left reallyyy early in the morning. And even better! I saw them sleeping in the same bed! Ahhhhhh!" Nudge squealed. "And Fang was hugging Max! Aren't they just PERFECT together? I can't believe that they're dating now! Do you know how long Angel and I have been waiting for this moment?" She hugged Gazzy and shook him. "DO YOU?!"

"Um I guess? They are pretty compatible aren't they?" Gazzy replied. "But how do you know that they're dating?"

"I don't… but I'm pretty sure! I mean how could they not?! Do you think they're dating Gaz?"

Gazzy spotted us listening to this conversation. "Why don't you just ask them yourself?" He pointed towards us.

Nudge practically ran us down. "FANG! Have you asked Max yet? Have you? Have you? Have youuuuuu?"

Both of us were as red as a tomato. This was _so _embarrassing and for the first time ever, Fang always had something to say about a situation and usually just decides not to say it, but this time he was actually speechless.

Fang stammered, "I-uh- We're not- uh- not yet- I mean….." Fang looked towards the open window that we left from. "I'm gonna go take a shower" He mumbled. He flew up to the window and climbed in.

I looked at a disappointed Nudge. "We're not dating Nudge."

"Ugh why can't anything go right? You guys are PERFECT for each other! Can't you see it?" She questioned, wide-eyed.

"I'm not interested in that stuff okay? We have much bigger worries right now than who we're going to date." I patted Nudge's head and walked into the kitchen.

Nudge ran to my mom. " Guess what? Max and Fang are getting married soon!"

"WHAT! Nudge! Stop manipulating my information!" I screamed at her.

"What?" turned to me. "Honey, you're only 16! You should wait at least until 18!"

"Max and Fang are getting married?" Iggy's head popped up from behind a cabinet.

"Ughhh I can't deal with this now." I covered my ears and marched up the stairs.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

I closed the door and lay down on the bed. The bathroom door opened and Fang stepped out with no shirt and a towel wrapped around his waist.

_Great. This could not get more embarrassing_.

"Oh sorry! I would leave but I really don't want to go down right now." I said.

"It's fine." Fang fumbled with a shirt. "Much better than out there right?"

"Definitely." I started to braid my hair to keep my hands busy and to make this encounter less awkward.

_Oh god. Can this conversation just stop? This is so embarrassing. I reverted to my specialty- changing the subject. _

"Hey, can I take a shower or do you need the bathroom?"

"All yours" He gestured towards the bathroom.

"Thanks." I said sheepishly. I grabbed a towel and walked towards the bathroom.

Fang grabbed my hand and said, "I think Gazzy was right… We are pretty compatible. Don't you think?"

I gave him an embarrassed smile. "Yeah I guess we are perfect for each other."

I walked into the bathroom and managed to glance at his face before I shut the door. He looked…. Relieved? Happy?

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

_Why did I say that? WHY did I have to say that! I basically confessed that I like him. UGH Nudge, why are you always right? _

I muffled my angry screams at myself in a towel. I turned on the water and tried to enjoy the first shower I've had in awhile. I thought back to our conversation at the cliff. Where would we go after a couple days? What's a safe state to go to? After about 10 min of thinking this over, I turned off the shower and wrapped myself in a towel. I opened the door and made sure that no one was in the room. Just as I walked over to lock the door, it opened.

"Hey Max, I figur-"

"Hey! Get out! I'm naked!" I realized that it was only Iggy and it didn't really matter cause he was blind anyway. "Oh never mind Ig."

"Just because I'm blind, huh?" He retorted jokingly.

"Yeah, yeah, poor you… go on" I started to put on my clothes.

"So I figured that you were pretty pissed about the whole Max loves Fang incident and just wanted to make sure that you aren't _too _mad."

"I'm not mad… It's just really embarrassing."

"Well everyone knows anyway so just thought I'd let you know."

"Wait what do you mean by everyone knows?"

"Everyone knows that you and Fang are basically soul mates but you both are too dumb to admit it to each other." He put his hands up in a defensive position. "Just stating the obvious you know."

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" I said slightly annoyed.

"That, and I brought you breakfast to save my ears from the yelling that I'd have to hear if you came down."

"Thanks Ig." I hugged him.

I knew that Iggy just cared about me. He's the closest thing to a brother that I'll ever have. I treat the younger ones as my children, I mean after all, I practically raised them after Jeb abandoned us. And Fang, I don't really know what he is.

"When you go down, tell the others that we need to have a flock meeting in this room. _Now_."

"Aye-aye, Captain." Iggy saluted and marched away. Sometimes, I forget that we're actually the same age.

"YO GUYS! FLOCK MEETING. UPSTAIRS. NOW."

"Well Jesus, I could have done that too you know." I scolded.

Iggy walked in with a big smile. "Done." He have me a thumbs up.

"You're a freaking idiot." I said as hit his head lightly.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000


	7. A new adventure

**Hey Guys! So sadly, this story isn't getting very many reviews.. so I would really appreciate it if you guys would take the time to review this story. That being said, I'm really grateful to the few reviews that I _did_ get. **

**Anyway, I have the next 5 chapters written but I'll only upload 2 for now until I know that you guys actually like this story because I'm not so sure myself. **

**If you guys have any ideas regarding the plot line of this story, please comment and tell me because I'll definitely take every idea I get into consideration. **

**Anyway, Enjoy the chapter! **

**~Shyla**

** Chapter 7:**

"Bye Mom!" Dr. Martinez gave me a huge hug.

She handed a bag of chocolate chip cookies to me. "Goodbye Max. Be safe! I would give you a cellphone but It might be tracked." She put a wad of cash in my backpack. "You'll need it. If you need anything, just call from a payphone, okay honey?"

"Okay Mom. Thanks" I smiled at her.

The flock was exchanging their goodbyes to Ella. I walked over and joined the group hug.

"Ella, take care of mom? Thanks. I'll miss you." I hugged Ella again.

"Oh you know I will… and_ you_ don't get killed. I except a visit sometime within the next year okay?" She said with tears down her cheek.

"Definitely Ella." I gathered the flock together.

After all the goodbyes, we all grabbed our backpacks.

"Bye! See you whenever!" We all waved goodbye.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

We walked for a miles to a clearing just in case we were being watched. Then, we made sure we had everything and took off. At our flock meeting, we decided to go southeast, to a state that was relatively mellow. We decided to go to Georgia.

It would take about 4 days to get there. I could probably get there around 2 and a half days with my speed but we had to go at the rate of our smallest bird- Angel.

"Okay guys. Here's the deal. It's already 10 am so we got a pretty late start. I'm planning to fly all day with the only exceptions being food all right? We fly for four hours and then head down to eat. That's our plan until we reach our destination. Got it?

I got a chorus of agreements. "Got it!" I smiled. It was nice to be in charge.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

After flying for about four hours, it was already two and everyone was extremely hungry. I saw a mall a couple miles ahead of us. Surely, they'll have a food court.

"Descend!" I led the flock in wide spiral arcs towards an empty hotel parking lot. Once we landed, we started to walk towards the mall.

As we entered, the cool breeze refreshed us.

Not even five steps in, Gazzy yelled. "Cool! Iggy come here… WOAHHHHH!"

"What? What is it?" Iggy blindly said.

"There's a dude demonstrating a hovercraft! It's sooooo cool!" Gazzy gazed in awe at the contraption. "I bet you could build that Ig."

"Pshhh… A hovercraft? That's amateur stuff! I could build that in my sleep Gaz!"

I stomped over to the two and grabbed them by the arm. "Guys, focus! Food. Hungry. Stomach growling. Remember?"

As we walked through the mall trying to find a directory, a good-looking couple approached me.

"Excuse me, sorry for the disturbance but-"

I was on high alert. They were good looking enough to be erasers but definitely had wimpy frames. Still, I widened my posture and was ready to attack if necessary.

"We're model scouts and we have been at this mall for _hours. _Just when we thought that this town was full of ugly wannabee's, we see you! You are just perfect darling! You got the slim, toned figure…. Just the full package! You even got the chest!" They leaned in slightly. "You'd be surprised how many flat chested models actually made the cut."

I was slightly mortified at that last comment but kept my head held high. "Sorry but that _was_ a disturbance." I pushed past them and led my flock towards a directory.

As we were looking for the number labeled food court, Nudge chimed in.

"Max…. You could have been a model… a FAMOUS model! Do you know how many people want to be –no- would _kill_ to be a model? You had the perfect opportunity and you blew it! I am so disappointed in you." She wagged her finger at me and whined.

"Nudge, I plan on kicking eraser butt and maybe settling down in the future in a beautiful forest. What I _don't_ plan on doing is flaunting my junk half naked. Okay? It's just not my thing." I led my flock towards the food court.

I went with Iggy and Angel to our favorite fast food joint, Taco Bell and the others went to some Japanese place for sushi, which for the record is my least favorite food. After we ate, I payed for everyone and we got ready to take off once again.

As we were taking off, I said, "You know, next time, take them to eat somewhere that _doesn't_ cost like a million dollars."

"You just have something against sushi." Fang chuckled.

I shoved Fang playfully.

"YOU'RE IT FANG!" Gazzy hollered.

"I'm coming for you Gaz!" Fang flew towards Gazzy.

I watched them fly around Angel who was trying to fly away from Fang so she doesn't get tagged. I looked around at my flock. We were all laughing and having a good time.

'_Don't worry. Someday, we'll be safe from all the horrors of the world. I promise.'_


	8. The school! Or just a school

**Okay so I did it. I sent the Flock to school. I always liked the idea of characters with powers/supernatural abilities living in the normal world and things like that. So therefore, the flock is going to school. However, in contrary to the books, I didn't make them suck at school because I don't want to demean the flock. I decided to make them smart kind of like the good-at-everything-without-trying type of people. **

**~Shyla**

**Chapter 8:**

We had just landed in suburban Atlanta. From above, all we could see was green trees and fields and a couple roads. About 25 miles away was the center of the city, downtown. I can't believe we hadn't been to Georgia before it was a gorgeous place.

"This is beautiful." Angel said in her quiet voice.

"Yeah… it is honey." I said. We were looking at a creek.

We had landed in a forest and walked some way until we ended up at a pond and a small waterfall.

"CANNONBALL!" Gazzy flew up and dived down towards the water ands splashed all of us.

"Great now my hair is going be a frizz-ball." Nudge grumbled.

"Aw Nudge, you'll get over it… Let's find a payphone or something and call Mom.. She can set up an apartment or something for us." I said

We flew to shopping mall complex and Angel used her oh-so-scary abilities to use someone's phone. I called Mom and she used her CSM funds that they set-aside just for us and got us a small apartment. She told us that they would be ready for us in a day. We chatted for a while on what was going to happen over the next few days and mostly argued. Why would we be arguing you ask? Well…

"Max, I think since you all are looking to settle down for some time, It would be a good idea to catch up on your education." Dr. Martinez supposed.

"Wait what."

"It would be really good for you… an education is very important you know… especially at your age. And don't worry about Jeb or the Erasers because CSM is handling that situation. No one will ever find you there. I promise."

"But Mom, I can't and I will NEVER go to school… I hate and it's a horrible experience. Believe me you weren't there last time-"

"Maximum Ride. I know you were on the run for most of your life but I am your _mother_ and you _will_ listen to me." Dr. Martinez used her stern voice. "It's either going to school and experiencing a full teenage life... or CSM will pick you and you'll have to live with them during their mission trip."

I was still holding the phone to my ear and talking in a hushed voice because if Nudge found out, she would be way too happy for me to handle.

"We're going to school?" Angel asked hopefully.

"No honey… we can't... remember last time—"

Nudge channel turned on. "We're going to school?! I cant believe it! Ohmigosh is it a private school?! With cute uniforms and everything?!"

"Max, Please listen to me alright? I'll send you all the information to Fang's email. Please try to fit in. You could really learn something at school and maybe have a better future. All right? You know you can't be on the run and living in the woods forever. I've got to go now. Bye, love you!" She hung up the phone.

"Bye." I grumbled. I closed the phone and stomped back to the flock. I'd much rather live on the run and have a home in the woods. "We have to go to school guys."

That got a mixture of excited yells and 'why me' faces.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**~3 days later**

It had been three days since we landed in Georgia. We hung around the first day and chilled, the second day we arrived at the apartment (surprisingly, it was furnished and everything… claps for CSM), and today… was the first day of school. Yippee. Can you tell how excited I am?

"Max! Wake up! It's the first day of school!" Angel shook me and tried to wake me up.

I sleepily sat up and holding Angel's hand, we went to wake up the others. There were two bedrooms in this apartment- one for the boys and one for the girls. Nudge was definitely not a morning person… so we decided to wake her up last. We walked over to the boy's room and tried to wake them up… the imperative word being _tried_.

I leaned down to Fang's ear. "Fang. Wake up. It's school time." He rolled over and punched whatever was in front of him out of instinct. Unfortunately, that was me but fortunately, my reflexes were fast enough and I whacked his arm away. I looked at the clock…6:50 am. Crap! We were late! We had to start by at least 7:05 to get there by 7:15.

"GUYS WAKE UP. NOW" Well that finally got a response.

The next 15 minutes were a hustle of shoving ourselves into the preppy uniforms that were compulsory, brushing out teeth, showering, and eating leftovers of the feast that we had yesterday.

"Come on, Come on, Come on!" Nudge gestured for everyone to hurry up as she was fixing her hair.

"Max, how do I look?" Angel asked.

"Uh… cute. You look like a really preppy doll." I smiled at Angel and took her hand.

We rushed out the apartment and made sure that no one was out in the hallway. We ran up the flight of stairs to the roof and took off. Luckily, the apartment was relatively hidden and in the woods so not many people would see us taking off.

After 6 minutes of flying, we arrived at the school. Riverside School for Exceptional Young Students.


	9. Hell's Beginning

**Hey guys :) I will take someone's review into consideration. I won't make the flock good at everything because as they said, no one is perfect so the flock will definitely have faults but they won't be totally stupid. I'm really happy that you guys are reviewing this story! There's so much more excitement to come in future chapters... **

**There's a Riddle at the end if you want to know more about the future plot. Review and let me know what you think! 3 **

**000000000000000000000000000000000****000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 9: **

It was a freaking castle. It was _huge. _

"Wow Dr. Martinez really pulled through!" Gazzy said excitedly.

"Yep." I grumbled a little less excitedly. Okay a _lot_ less excitedly.

We walked up the stairs and the first thing we saw was the receptionist area. I took a huge sigh and put on a fake smile.

"Hi! We're new students and we'd like to get our schedules for today." I smiled at the lady. My cheeks already hurt.

"Why of course! You're all siblings?" She looked a bit confused.

"No, actually, we are siblings and they're our family friends but also siblings." Mom told me that Iggy, Gazzy, Angel and I would be registered as siblings because we look the most alike... cause of our blonde hair and pale skin. Iggy has a red tone to his hair and Gazzy and Angel have almost white blonde hair. I have blonde hair that's browner tinted and has some natural reddish-brown highlights. She also registered Fang and Nudge as adopted siblings of another family to avoid raising too many questions.

"Alright just one moment please…." She typed something on her computer before it went totally black. "Oh no! I'm sorry something just- I don't know what just happened… Mark! I think the computer-"

Nudge pushed past Fang and I. "Um excuse me? I think I could help! I'm kind of a whiz with this kind of stuff. I found my talent just a little while ago- but anyway could I?"

Thank god she shut herself up before she revealed anything else. She typed something in the lady's computer and it came back to life. She printed out our schedules for us.

"Oh my, well you are a computer whiz aren't you?" She laughed and sat back down. "Well if you need any help finding-"

"I think we can manage." I smiled again. "Thank you!"

Oh god. Never doing that much smiling again in my life. We looked at our schedules. Nudge, Gazzy and Angel's classrooms were in Wing B of the school. Fang, Iggy and I were in the same grade so we were in Wing C. After dropping them off, we walked into our homeroom.

We walked in to a room of chaos. This was the epitome of a classic high school. The girls with makeup filled faces, perfectly straightened hair, and skirts so short you could basically see their butt, the know-it-all types studying for a test of some sort, and the jocks, which were messing around with the "popular" girls for lack of a better word.

"Bite me." I grumbled to Fang.

"Are there a lot of hot chicks?" Iggy whispered to Fang.

"Uh _yeah_. A _lot_." Fang chuckled and nudged Iggy.

"Ugh control your hormones. Geez." I grabbed both their hands and pulled them to three chairs in the back of the room.

Just then, the homeroom teacher walked in and everyone scrambled to get to his or her seats.

"Excuse me? That's my seat."

I looked up to see a girl with blonde hair, lips full of lip-gloss, and a boatload of eyeliner standing over me. I was not in the mood. She looked pretty easy to take down.

"I'm sorry… what?" I said.

"I sit here everyday… so that's my seat. I suggest you move." Her hand reached for my arm to pull me up.

I narrowed my eyes. I pushed her hand away and stood up. All us bird kids are taller than average so I was a good 3 inches taller than her. I stared her down.

"I suggest _you_ find another seat." I sat back down and continued talked to Iggy.

"Oh my gosh, are you _serious_?" She flipped her hair and scoffed; clearly surprised that anyone would talk to her that way and quickly found another seat.

Fang silently laughed in my direction while I gave Iggy a high five.

"Alright class. It seems that three new students have enrolled in our grade. So Maxine, Nick, and James, please briefly introduce yourselves." He gestured towards us, the only unfamiliar faces to them.

"Yo. I'm James. I like soccer and we moved from Antarctica."

"Nick, he's lying. We moved from North Korea."

"The name's Max- not Maxine and they're both lying. We moved from Canada."

We all sat down quietly laughed at each other.

The homeroom teacher laughed and said, "Well thank you for that wonderful connectivity of introductions. I look forward to see what you all bring to this school." He addressed the rest of the class. "Please make them feel welcome, everyone! You are dismissed."

We all stood up and walked to the door when the blonde chick cut us off.

"Hi guys, my name is Ansley and I know we got off to a wrong start but I just wanted to let you know that if you need any help at all, just ask me!" She batted her eyelashes at Fang and Iggy.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure we'll be fine but thanks for that generous-"

"-Anyway, lets see your schedule, I know where your first class is. I'll walk you there!"

And there we were following the blonde chick to our first class of the day. Let hell begin.

**000000000000000000000000000000000****000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Guess the answer to this riddle if you want to know more about the future plot ;) **

**RIDDLE: **

**Good and bad, **

**Both wands contain parts of me. **

**My tears heal and I have healed he. **

**When I am near death, **

**I burst into flames.**

**Soon, I shall be reborn from the ashes. **

**Can you guess my name? **

**You must have read the latest Maximum Ride book, Maximum Ride Forever 3. The riddle is a Harry Potter reference for those who don't understand... Let me know what you think and what this means for the plot of the book! **

**~Shyla**


	10. Memories coming back

**Another chapter.. and I hope you like it because it's a long one! :) **

**If you haven't seen the riddle from last chapter, and you want to know more about where the story is headed, try to figure it out :) The riddle is at the bottom of this chapter too! Please Review!**

**~Shyla**

**00000000000000000000****00000000000000000000****00000000000000000000****00000000000000000000**

**Chapter 10: **

It's nearing the end of hell day. _Thank the lord. _I don't know if I can deal with school for as long as Mom wants me to. It was only the first day and I was dying.

'_Just one more class and you'll be done for today.' _I silently thought to myself.

The last class was P.E, which I was slightly excited for because all my other classes were a drag. Unfortunately, Fang and Iggy were not in my class so I was totally alone. I followed the other girls out of the girl's locker room and tried to not gag at my reflection. Believe it or not, even the gym uniforms were preppy. Long sleeved fitted sports shirts, and shorts, that might I add, were unnecessarily short.

I uncomfortably squeezed my wings as close to my body as possible. Luckily, I got a medium sized shirt instead of a tightly fitted small. Still, I'm pretty sure I'll have wings imprinted onto my sides when I'm done with class.

"Okay class, today is testing day! I'll let you all warm up for a few minutes before we start." The teacher spoke to the crowd of girls around her. "Maxine, I would like to speak with you for a moment."

I inwardly groaned and waked over to her. "Yes?"

"Since, today is testing day, would you like to sit out and observe the others or would you like to participate? If you participate, I'll take this as an evaluation of where you are as of now."

I didn't even hesitate. "I'd like to participate. What sports will they be doing?"

"I will be testing them on endurance, simple gymnastics skills, and volleyball today. But Maxine, please think about it… I don't want you getting hurt."

"I go by Max, and I'm sure I can handle it." I smirked and walked to join the others. This was going be fun.

When we were in the school, one of the main things the whitecoats tested us on was endurance. I grimaced and the memory of us on the treadmills for 6 hours at a time. It was torture.

"Alright everyone, I'll split you into groups and that is whom you are racing with. First group: Charlotte, Chloe, Darena, Maxine, and Ansley. Please line up at the track and prepare for the race."

I jogged over to the track and picked my spot. I re-tied my ponytail. I looked over and saw Ansley staring at me.

"Can I help you? Wait let me guess. I'm in your spot?"

"You should be scared right now." She tilted her chin up and literally looked like a Barbie with her makeup done perfectly, and her hair in an intricate braided type ponytail. "My parents were Olympic level runner so it runs in the family. I would say good luck but then again, I don't actually like you."

I decided not to retaliate. 'Mhm, I guess we'll see who wins then." She's going to wish she never said that when I win this stupid race.

"Okay everyone ready?" The coach yelled with a timer in hand. "READY? 3… 2…1, GO!"

Ansley and I took off. My tactic in any race is to go slow at the beginning and gain speed as I go along but this girl needed a lesson that she's not the best. After all, 800 meters was nothing after what I went through at the school.

800 meters was 4 laps. I let Ansley be ahead of me for the first 200 meters. When we were getting around the first bend of the second lap, she smiled at me a couple meters ahead.

"Told you. Don't even try to beat me."

Believe it or not, staying behind her was pretty hard. I had to make myself take shorter strides, which is pretty difficult for a tall person.

"I told you too... We'll see about that." I smiled smugly.

I ran as fast as I could in full sprints and before I knew it, I was meters ahead of Ansley. She didn't stand a chance.

"WOO HOO! Go Max!" I looked up at the bleachers. Iggy? The entire boys gym class was sitting on the bleachers waiting for us to finish. I guess it was testing day for them too.

I finally finished the last lap and almost collapsed of exhaustion. Why did I feel so tired? Either I'm really out of shape… or... no that's pretty much it. I looked back and saw that Ansley was a good 50 meters behind me.

I laughed to myself. I actually underestimated her… she's pretty good for a human. I ran over to drink some water.

"How? How… did you do that..." Ansley ran over to me practically out of breath.

"Lets just say I've had pretty intense training."

She glared at me and walked over to her group of friends. She looked _really_ mad. Well its not my fault I my DNA was enhanced. I spotted Fang and Iggy in the bleachers.

"Hey guys."

"Yooooo you destroyed her!"

"I'd say it was pretty impressive myself. " I smiled at Iggy.

"Yeah that was pretty insane, not to mention the uniforms..." My face turned red and I instinctively tried to pull me shorts lower.

"Yeah well that girl is a brat and she had it coming."

We talked for sometime about how the day was before the coach called us to the next test.

"Great… next is volleyball… I suck at that game… see you later guys."

I jogged to the indoor gym where the volleyball nets were. I'm okay at volleyball but by no means amazing. I mean, the game is so stupid… it's just a more advanced version of "don't-let-the-balloon-hit-the-ground" game that we used to play as kids.

The coach set up the teams and I was a blocker because I'm obviously taller. This is good because all I have to do is block the ball and spike it, which seems pretty easy to me.

When the whistle blows, Ansley serves. The ball comes straight to me… I slam it down. '_Yes! I did it!' _

The coach blows the whistle. "The other team gets a point. Sorry Max, can't block on a serve."

What? That's the stupidest rule I've ever heard. The point is to prevent the other team from hitting the ball… that's what I did. Ugh whatever. I need to focus.

This time, the ball goes behind me and on the second hit, my teammate sets the ball up high. This is my chance. I run forward 2 steps and jump and spike the ball as hard as I can down. We got the point!

Soon, the game was tied. 26 all. It was Macy's turn to serve. It went to the back left corner to the middle… to me. I got ready to spike. I glanced at an empty spot I could aim for. I found it. I ran, jumped and slammed. I did it! We won! Then I see Ansley dive from the other side of the court… barely making it and getting the ball to our side. Our team looks in surprise at the unexpected hit.

We stare as the other team jumps up and down, giggling about their victory. I have to admit, I'm a little pissed that Ansley got the winning point for them. But it's just a stupid game right?

The next test was gymnastics. I haven't done gymnastics since…. Since Jeb.

_~ Flashback ~_

"_Max! Do it again!" _

"_Jeb, I'm tired! I want to go flying with everyone else!" I stomped my foot and glared at Jeb. He'd been making me do the same round off backhand spring forever now. I know I'm capable of more but he won't let me. I don't even like gymnastics. _

"_Max, honey, this is training. It's going to prepare you for the future. Gymnastics is making your flexible and strong. If you're going to be the leader of the Flock, you have to do what I say." _

"_Leader?" _

"_Yes. You are going to be the leader of the flock and it's going to be your job to protect them. You have natural leading abilities and you're one of the strongest flock members. I want you to remember everything I'm teaching you, because one day, when I'm not here, you'll have to teach them what I'm teaching you right now." _

"_When you're not here? Where are you going Jeb?" _

"_Never mind that Max. Focus on what I'm teaching you. Now do it again… but this time, do a round off backhand spring layout." He smiled at me. "I know you can do it." _

_I sighed. "I've never landed it… but I can try. Just for you Jeb."_

_I ran and did a round off back handspring. I bent my knees, arched my back and put as much power into my knees as possible. I lifted off the ground, flipped in a perfect line and landed. _

"_Jeb! Jeb! I did it! I finally got it…" I ran over and hugged Jeb. I looked into his eyes and said, "I hope you never leave dad." _

_~ End Flashback ~ _

"Oh my gosh Max! That was amazing! You should join our school's gymnastics team… you would definitely be a shoe in!" The coach shook my shoulders. "I mean a round off backhand spring layout? That's just… I mean that skill, I mean WOW!"

What just happened? I finished the test and walked back to the locker room. I quickly changed and took a look in the mirror. Blondish-brown hair down my back, light brown eyes, curvy, skinny frame, clear skin, high cheekbones and a mature face. I look exactly the same as I did when I was a kid.

I thought about what Jeb told me that day. He told me that I'd have to teach the other what he taught me, and I did. I kept the promise. After that day, after he mentioned that he wouldn't be there one day…. 2 days later, he disappeared. And never came back. And I hate him for that. I called him _dad_. Little did I know that it was actually true.

I glanced back at my reflection. I put on my blazer over my white button down shirt that was tucked into a plaid skirt. I put on my tights and my combat boots over them. I washed my face and stared at the water dripping down.

I thought back to the memory. I hate Jeb. I hate him for betraying me and I hate him for doing what he did to us. He was supposed to love us. Instead, he abandoned us. Even though Jeb is my real dad, he's nothing more than the whitecoats who torture people's lives. He promised that he would never leave us but he broke that promise. I promised that I would never hurt him and I intend to break that promise if I ever see him again.

**00000000000000000000****00000000000000000000****00000000000000000000****00000000000000000000**

**Guess the answer to this riddle if you want to know more about the future plot ;)**

**RIDDLE:**

**Good and bad,**

**Both wands contain parts of me.**

**My tears heal and I have healed he.**

**When I am near death,**

**I burst into flames.**

**Soon, I shall be reborn from the ashes.**

**Can you guess my name?**

**You must have read the latest Maximum Ride book, Nevermore. The riddle is a Harry Potter reference for those who don't understand... Let me know what you think and what this means for the plot of the book!**


	11. A secret I shouldn't have

**A/N Sorry I haven't updated in some time... This entire week has been finals and tomorrow, I have my Chemistry exam which isn't exactly my best subject... kinda procrastinating studying by writing a new chapter lol.. Anyway, I've been pretty happy with the reviews and some people guessed the riddle correctly.. (it honestly wasn't too hard).. the answer is PHOENIX! Anyone read Maximum Ride Forever? Well if you haven't I suggest it :) I got this idea from another fanfiction but I'm gonna start putting random facts about me soo... **

**Random Fact: I started ballet at the age of two and at the age of 5, I auditioned for a ballet school and got selected and been going to that school ever since. I do online school (International Baccalarueate Diploma Programme.. aka hardest curriculum in the world... anyone else do the IB?) **

Search Results

**Disclaimer: James Patterson owns the series, and characters. All OC's are mine. **

**000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000**

Chapter 11: Secrets

"_Max? Max? Are you okay?" _Angel's voice rang through my head.

"_What?" _I looked around. I was sitting on the toilet in the bathroom of our apartment. Oh that's right. I felt super sick after that gym class and I told the flock that I'd meet them at home. "_Yeah Angel, I'm fine. I'll be out in a sec." _

I sighed. I've been having short breath all day and the area around my lower back and wings were throbbing. _"Must be because of gymnastics… I haven't done anything like that in a while." _ Even though I convinced myself that it was because of gymnastics, I wasn't satisfied. There was something wrong with me.

Iggy banged the door. "MAX! Hurry up! I have to pee!"

"Ugh Cominggggg sheesh." I washed my hands and face and opened the door. "You couldn't wait for like 2 minutes?" I rolled my eyes.

"Um no. The bladder doesn't wait for girls admiring their reflection."

"Excuse me? I would never!" I put my hands on my chest and imitated a valley girl accent. I laughed and pushed past Iggy so he could pee.

"Are you okay Max?" Angel looked up at me.

_Mind block. Mind block. Mind block. _

"Yeah, I'm fine honey. Today just stressed me out… you know I'm not exactly a fan of us going to school." I smiled at Angel and stroked her hair.

"I really like school Max! I already made a bunch of friends and they think that I'm so cool! One of them said that I look like an actress on a television show… isn't that sooo cool?! And of course they were talking about how hot Fang was, I mean the entire school noticed you guys… I mean who wouldn't right? By the way, where's Fang?" Nudge took a huge gasp of air after her monologue.

"He went to get food! He said he would get me ice cream and batteries…." Gazzy got that scary dreamy look in his eyes.

"No. No more bombs Gaz! We have enough for now okay? I don't want people getting suspicious."

"But Maxxxxx… Iggy is teaching me how to build advanced things! Think of how many times our bombs have saved our butts!"

I put my hands on my hips and looked at Gazzy. Big mistake.

He was looking at me with those pale blue eyes, blonde hair naturally spiked up, and chubby cheeks. Did he get taller?

"Ugh fine! But you can't set them! Only make them… without the batteries. If we need them, then you can power it up." I gave in.

"YAYYY Thanks Max! You're the best!" Gazzy ran and hugged me.

"Oh is it tackle Max day? AIIIIII" Iggy came charging at me.

Before I knew it, everyone was piled up on the floor tackling each other… this is what I needed today. I needed to be with my flock and having fun.

_I don't want anything to change. _

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**1 and 1/2 months later**

'_Ow. Ow. Ow. Shoot! I slept on my stomach again!' _

I shot straight up. I immediately felt nauseas. I ran to the toilet and started throwing up.

'_This has been happening for 2 days now. What is wrong with me? What did the school do to me?' _

I sat on the closed toilet seat and gathered my thoughts. It was 2 am on a Saturday. I got that nauseas feeling again. I lifted the toilet seat and threw up for the second time that morning. I felt someone come into the bathroom but I couldn't see because my eyes were watering from throwing up so much. I started to get that feeling again and bent over the toilet seat. I felt gentle hands lift my hair and collect it at the back.

"Shhh it's okay." Fang whispered as he stroked my head.

"I think I'm done." I washed my mouth and Fang walked me out to the living room.

"Max." Fang sat me down on the couch and looked into my eyes. "Max, what's wrong? You've been throwing up for a couple of days… what exactly did the school do?"

"I don't know Fang…. I don't know! I'm afraid to think about it and I don't want to." I appreciated that he cared but I did not need that right now. What I needed was sleep.

"_Avoidance is NOT the solution, Max." _

I gasped. _Voice? _

"_Miss me?" _

"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Fang looked at me worriedly.

"No…. I think…. The voice is back." I looked a bit confused. "I'm going back to the bedroom Fang. I need to be alone right now."

I walked to the bedroom that I slept in and layed down on the mattress. There was one bed where Nudge and Angel were sleeping in. I told them that they could have the bed and I would sleep on the mattress. A good leader can adapt to any situation and frankly, I'm jut happy that we have a roof over our heads.

_Voice, why am sick? What is wrong with me?_

"_Oh hello Max, how are you doing? I'm doing well, thanks."_

_Okay fine… how are you doing, Voice? Now what's wrong with me?_

"_Max, its not that simple. THINK. You know what they did… you just blocked it from your memory."_

_I don't know what you're talking about. I blacked out right before we escaped! I don't remember!_

"_THINK Max, THINK. Free your mind and go back to that day."_

I got comfortable on my mattress. I closed my eyes and thought back to that day. Fang grabbed Angel's waist and threw her out the window. Fang gestured to me to go first… then I leaned forward and put one leg on the windowsill and was about to jump out when an Eraser grabbed me, injected me with something and I blacked out.

Wait. Go back.

Fang. One leg on the window. Then a white coat… a syringe. A white coat yelling something about Fang and his chromosomes… I was laying on table. Pants off. A needle was injected into the area right under my stomach. My uterus… oh my gosh.

_Voice…. Am I pregnant?_

**000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000**

**Did you guys like the chapter? Let me know in a review :) **


	12. Frustration

**A/N: So I decided to upload this little filler chapter... I hope you appreciate two chapters in one day :) Im probably gonna upload another one today to tbh. **

**Random Fact: I have a 9 year old brother. (I'm 17) **

**Enjoy! **

**~Shyla**

**000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000000**

**3 months later**

"Max? Can I have cereals?" Gazzy looked up at me with the cutest blue eyes.

"Um no… we still have this entire loaf of bread! Finish that first... I don't want to waste it."

"But Maxxx, please?" He gave me the pout. I can't argue with the pout.

"Oh alright." I got a bowl, poured milk, cereal and slid it across the counter. "Happy?" I sat down on the stool munching the stale loaf of bread that no one wanted to eat apparently. I was in a grumpy mood.

"Max? Can I go out and play with Angel?" Nudge ran up and asked me.

"Yeah sure, just don't go too far."

"MAXXX IGGY POURED WATER ON ME!" Gazzy yelled in a frenzy.

"IT WAS A JOKEEE" Iggy screamed back.

I covered my ears and ran up to my room. _I just want to be alone. I'm not their mother! _

I heard a knock on the door. The door opened and closed and I could tell Fang was in the room.

"You okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay, Fang?" I retorted.

"Other than the fact that you're super moody, yeah I think you look pristine." Fang pointed out.

_Suddenly, I snapped back. _

"Oh I'm sorry about that... can't really do anything cause of the—"

"Right cause of the injection." Fang finished. "Well just let me know if you need anything." **(A/N: Just so you know, Max hasn't told anyone she's pregnant yet. Max told Fang that it was just a hormone imbalance drug that the whitecoats wanted to test out. Obviously Fang doesn't believe her… but I don't want any of the Flock to know yet.) **

"I will, thanks." The door opened and closed again.

_Finally. I need to think. _

"_It's about time we had another chat Max." _

_Great. You never give me answers so what's the point of talking to you. _

"_The point is that I'm the guiding force that will help you save the world." _

_Again with the saving the world. I understand that the world needs to be saved but why me and how would I even do it?_

"_It time Max, in time, you'll know. And you won't do it alone. You, your flock and your child are going to be the future of Earth one day." _

_I'm going to be a horrible mother. _

"_Maybe, but you'll train a great warrior." _

_Are you kidding me? When I have this baby, I never teaching her how to fight. He or She doesn't need to know the evils of the world. _

"_Max, she or he will have been created from an evil." _

I sat silent after that. I was done talking to the voice. I haven't even told my Flock that I was pregnant yet… I'll tell them soon. They'll know. I was already getting big.

I walked over to the mirror and thought about what the voice said. I rubbed my stomach and whispered.

"I'm going to make you into a great warrior. And we're all going to live happily ever after."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**1 month later**

I was speechless. I couldn't believe it.

_Voice? Did I just do that?_

_"Yes I believe you did Max."_

I stared at my bloody hands. I just killed an eraser by pure will. I was walking back from the grocery store and there were at least fifty erasers… they found us, I was so scared. But I wasn't scared for me. I was scared for my flock- for my baby.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

What would I name the baby? I walked down the street thinking random thoughts. This street was too quiet. Wasn't it bustling with people when I went to the store? Wait. It was bustling with good-looking, model like people. Crap, Crap, Crap Crap, Crap.I was on high alert. I pretended not to notice the eerie silence so the erasers wouldn't catch on. I noticed a shadow near an upcoming alleyway. I slowed down my pace.

_Ow! The baby! It kicked for the first time! _

I was surged with emotions but I had to keep my head in the game plan. I slowed down and when I came up to the alleyway, I lunged for the blonde eraser that was just about to pounce on me.

_Die, Die, Die. _I just wanted the eraser to die. I imagined touching the eraser and it exploding right in front of me. And something made me do just that. I pinned the eraser down on the ground and held her under my weight. I slowly reached out and touched her shoulder. She exploded. She _exploded. _Everywhere… there were eraser chunks everywhere, I couldn't clean this up! We had to move, the flock had to move, I thought to myself. Then I noticed the 49 other erasers ready to grind me into pulp but they we're too shocked to react.

"How did she do that?!" A black-furred eraser yelled. "She only has super-speed!" The eraser looked at me in fear.

I stared back. I envisioned him paralyzed and on the ground. A second later, that's exactly what happened. After that, I finished the others off pretty quickly.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

_Did I get new powers? That can basically do anything? _

_"Not exactly."_

_So I didn't just kill 50 erasers with my mind? Do I have the same power as Angel now? Mind-controlling?_

_"Not exactly." _

_Just answer me! _

_"It's not your powers. You just have them temporarily. It's the-"_

_-baby's. The baby is doing this… it's his or her power. _

_"Bingo. Give the girl a prize." _

**000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****000000000****0**

**This was just a short filler chapter but I hoped you liked it!**

**So the next chapter is filled with action and I'm actually starting to develop a plot now so stay tuned. **

**A couple more reviews and then I'll post a REALLY long chapter as a reward :) It took me super long to write and I think it's pretty good-ish. **

**PLEASE REVIEW! It would make me really happy :) **

**Also Shyla is just my writer's name (I use Shyla or Sara for literally everything that I don't have to write my real name on) :P If anyone can guess my real name, I'll be really surprised. It's melodic and it starts with an H. **


	13. Unleashed

**A/N: So this chapter is more than 2000 words. Even though no one reviewed, I'm still posting this just cause I'm done with finals for this semester and I got almost a perfect score on every single one.. so this is kinda celebrating since my parents don't really care haha :) **

**I really hope you guys are liking where I'm going with this story.. and if you don't let me know because I really do take every opinion into account. **

**Random Fact: Someone spiked my drink at a party once... shhhh. (Hate drinking. Don't do it kids.) **

**Enjoy! ;)**

**0000000000000000****0000000000000000****0000000000000000****0000000000000000****0000000000000000****00000**

Chapter 13: Unleashed

I'd been on edge since the whole 'getting attacked by erasers thing'. That night, I walked home with blood ALL over me and somehow had to come up with an explanation as to what happened. Basically, I told them that a couple erasers attacked me and one of them had a gun so I had to shoot them. Of course they gave me weird looks because I rarely let them use a gun…. I mean why should we ever need guns? We were genetically enhanced to fight so it almost seemed like cheating in a sort of way.

"MAX lets go!" Nudge squealed.

"Coming! One second!" I took a look in the mirror.

I was wearing a tank top because it felt comforting to have something tight over my stomach. It felt protective. I wore a sweatshirt over top, jeans and my signature combat boots. I tossed my black Jansport book bag over my shoulder and attempted to walk to the door with out letting the others know of my pain. Even at 6 months pregnant, I looked pretty normal. All us bird kids are really petite so it only made sense that my child would also be tiny. Fang grabbed my hand and pulled my out of my thoughts.

"Earth to Max… lets go!" Fang ran forward and leaped off the roof. I copied his actions and almost doubled over in pain. Fang looked at me with worry.

"I'm fine! Ow... I just pulled my inner thigh muscle…" Fang knows when I'm lying because I tend to look away from his eyes and my lips purse together. I made it a point to look him straight in the eyes and part my lips just the right amount. Fang flew a bit further and waited for me. _Thank god he bought the excuse. _

I heard Iggy yell from above, "What's taking so long? Hurry up or we're gonna be late again!"

"Alright, alright I'm coming… sheesh can't even show a little sympathy for a strained muscle can you?" I glared at Iggy even though it had no effect on him.

I jumped off of the roof holding my thigh but still supporting my stomach just incase. We flew for about 10 min before landing. We all walked to our first class of the day murmuring goodbyes and see-you-later's. Everyone had adjusted pretty well except for Fang and I. Nudge has a whole group of friends who adore her, Angel's teachers actually think she's an angel because of how smart and cute she is, Gazzy found some friends who love playing Minecraft, and Iggy is on hormone overdrive with all the "hot" chicks in the school. Fang just thinks everyone is annoying and I have bigger things to worry about. When we arrived in homeroom, we suffered the usual glares from the blonde and sat down in our seats.

"Good morning class! Today the principal has announced that there is a morning assembly in the auditorium so up and at it! Lets go, no shenanigans!"

"_Careful. Something unexpected might just come your way." _

_Your riddles come at really inconvenient times. _

"_And how is this inconvenient?" _

_Not now! Just in general… _

"_Maximum, focus! This is not a normal assembly. Since when does this school have random assemblies." _

_Maybe they want to congratulate someone on academic achievement or something?_

"_You really are losing your touch." _

The voice has never been wrong before so this began to worry me.

'_Angel! Something's about to happen and I have a feeling that we'll have to run away again so alert the others.' _

I saw Nudge's pained face as she realized that we might have to leave again. I saw her break the news to her friends and they were all crying in a circle. I rolled my eyes… _ I should have said IN CASE. _

"Are we really leaving?" Iggy looked a little sad.

"I'm not sure… the voice said that something would happen at the assembly and I think its another eraser attack." I looked around and lowered my voice. "They attacked me just a few days ago and the school probably was keeping tabs on us this whole time and today is probably the second attack."

"Alright kids listen up! Today we have a guest speaker… in honor of this week being college week, I would like you to have the pleasure of listen to a lecture by a very talented geneticist who works for a top secret agency, Jeb Batchelder!"

I froze in my spot. I looked at the utter disbelief on the faces of my flock and then the shock reached me. Jeb. Jeb Batchelder? There's only one I know and he abandoned us years ago. I thought about all the times he fathered us and I wanted to hug him right then and there. Then I thought about him leaving us all alone and fury raged through me. I was about to leave the auditorium when I realized that there were security guards entering the stage… good-looking ones. It was likely they were _all_ erasers.

In the middle stood one aged man; a face I would ever forget. The thick brown hair slicked back with streaks of grey, semi-shaven beard and round face. Jeb. He really was alive… and he was staring right at me.

"Good morning everyone! I would like to take this moment to share a message with you all. Each and every one of you has a destiny whether you like it or not, it must be fulfilled." Jeb smiled at me and then looked at the rest of my flock. He continued with his speech and eventually got to the sciency stuff.

We needed to leave and I had a plan. As soon as Jeb took his eyes off of one of the flock, we ducked down and slowly inched our way to the exit. About 5 minutes later, the whole flock was together at the end of the auditorium. I looked around for any escape exits. The auditorium happened to be smack dab in the middle of the school so there were no windows at all.

_Crap. Think fast, think fast. _

"_Up." _

I looked up. Thank the lord.

"_Unless that lord is me, you're welcome." _

_Do you have to be sarcastic even at a time like this?_

"_Yes." _

I sighed in frustration. I realized that the entire auditorium was agitated and looked back at us. The "guards" were walking swiftly through the crowd, bumping girls here and there to get to us.

"Max, what are we going to do?" Gazzy asked. I could hear the fear in his voice. "I don't want to go back to the school."

"We won't." I took in a breath and remained completely still. I had to catch the erasers off guard. I had to make it look like we would run through the doors and through the school rather than through the window above. Jeb probably thought that we wouldn't risk being spotted- well he was wrong because I'll do anything to keep my flock safe.

I pretended to fix my hair and be oblivious of what was going on around me. The only people who had noticed the guards coming towards us were the students on the sides. I took my bobby pin out of my hair and put it on the edge of my shirt facing up. It was an old trick we did before they screwed with Iggy's eyes. I shuffled my feet to get on my toes (like how we did when we were about to take off) so Iggy understood that we were going up.

I whispered, "On the count of three…", I braced myself for the right moment. "Three." I whispered.

We all shot up in the air, ignoring all the shouting and surprised faces… the one thing I did hear though…

"HOLY SHIT! They have wings! What's going on?" I grimaced a little… it was the snobby blonde girl.

I circled the windowed skylight and burst through to the open air. I definitely caught the erasers off guard because they were just getting ready to block the doors.

"Come on! We have to go now!" I did a quick head count and silently nodded to myself.

"But I never got to say goodbye to some of my-"

"Nudge! Not now! We need to fly… let's go!" I lead the flock away from the area.

"Max." Angel said calmly.

"Okay guys, we're going back to the apartment, we've got a minute to pack our backpacks and get all the food possible." I gasped for air.

"Max."

"Actually scratch that. We can get food anywhere. Everyone pack a backpack, grab a water bottle and we're high tailing it out of here got-"

"Max." I turned to Angel.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"The erasers are coming." She pointed to the horizon with fear in her eyes… A dark cloud was starting to form... it was the Flyboys.

I contemplated leading them on a chase but I knew we were out numbered.

"We have to fight!" Fang exclaimed.

"Iggy, Gazzy, bombs! Angel stay with me… Nudge don't leave Fang! Everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded. I could see the fear in their eyes as clear as day. We were all wondering the same thing. _Why here? Why now? What do they want from us now? _

As the cloud approached closer, I noticed a somewhat familiar face…

"Ahhh The Great Maximum Ride, we meet again? Long time no see, huh?" Ari. "I missed you." Wait.. Ari?

I faltered a little. The sweet little seven year old… was an eraser? Jeb made his own son into an eraser? I hated him more than ever now.

I gasped. "What… what did Jeb do to you?"

Ari laughed, "Oh don't feel sorry for me… I know that you all never liked me because I got the perks of not living in cage. Dad didn't do anything to me… I asked him too." He looked proud as a seven year old could look. "I'm better now. I'm faster, smarter, and I'm the lead if you haven't noticed, and soon, you'll be nothing but a dead bird after I'm done with you."

"Ari, I'm so sorry…" I didn't know how to react. Jeb turned his sweet little seven year old into a…. a monster.

"I said don't feel sorry!" Ari lunged for me with his claws but I was still numb.

"_Watch out Max! Focus! You need to protect the baby!" _

That snapped me out of my daze. I decided to use my power because the flock was going to find out someday or another and I couldn't risk fighting on my own.

I blocked Ari's claws and punched him in the stomach. I swirled my wings making me do a 360 turn to gain enough momentum to kick him in the chest. It was hard to hurt someone who I had once liked, but then again, you can trust no one.

I grabbed Ari's wings together, "Max please! I'll do anything… I'm sorry!"

"Oh now you want to play the sorry card? Because I'm about to kill you? Is that it?" I screamed at him.

Ari pleaded, "Max please! I'm begging you! If dad knows that I died on my first assignment with wings, he'll revive me just to kill me _again_. Please, please don't kill me!"

At that point, I really did feel sorry for Ari. He was terrified to death… of his own father. I dropped his wings and let him drop to the ground. He gathered his group and flew away clumsily.

I surveyed the damage. A bruise on the cheek, a claw to the face, busted lips. Not too bad I guess... we've had worse. I sighed.

"Lets fly for a couple miles and land somewhere safe." I instructed the flock. I decided that we could last a couple miles before we assess our wounds.

"Sounds good!" Gazzy smiled, holding a remote for a bomb that I assumed he ignited.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Max, why do you think the erasers came after all this time for us?" Nudge asked silently. She was probably still upset about leaving her newfound friends.

"I know why and they're never going to get it." I numbly stated.

The entire flock swiveled their heads to look at me.

"_What _did you just say?" Fang asked. "What do they want?"

I bit my lip and looked away.

"What? What's going on? They want Max?" Iggy asked around.

"No… they want something else… some_-one_ else…" Angel curiously stated. "But who else? Would they kidnap me again?"

"No why would they want you again? They already got what they wanted… they're probably kidnapping us each one by one." Gazzy hypothesized.

"Guys, I want to hear this from Max… Max, what do they want from us? I know that you're nervous but I promise we can handle it. And I'm sorry about being pissed before, It's just that I've never had friends besides you guys… and well I hope you forgive me and tell us what the school wants from us." Nudge looked pleadingly at me.

"I can't." I looked away and suddenly I felt super dizzy. There was liquid seeping down my pants.

"Guys we need to land. NOW." I was on the verge of panicking. My vision became hazy. I needed to tell them now… they had to know.

"What's happening? Max?" Fang held me and shook my shoulders. He was holding me in his arms and descending because apparently, I was in some sort of paralyzed state.

"I'm… I'm pregnant. The school… they want my baby… I'm giving birth… now... water... broke..." I felt even lighter headed. I gasped for air as I saw the shocked looks on my flock.

Then, blackness.

**0000000000000000****0000000000000000****0000000000000000****0000000000000000****0000000000000000****00000**

**Boom- cliffhanger. I'll post a new chapter tomorrow. I want to know where this is going just as much as you do. **

**BY THE WAY.. I wonder if anyone has guessed my real name yet... Melodic, starts with an H.. (I think its pretty easy to guess haha) **

**~Shyla (H-something) **


	14. It's here

**A/N: I've been uploading pretty frequently nowadays so I hope it's appreciated haha. I've been an avid fanfiction reader for MR series for a while now and just a couple months ago, I decided to start writing my own fanfiction for a couple of reasons. **

**In MY opinion, I hate fanfiction's where the Flock is "wingless" or "no wings" because that's basically what the whole series revolves around... and there are a lot of stories where the flock are normal humans. (This is just my opinion, I respect all fanfiction writers.) My favorite types of stories are the ones where it's not TOO different from the books... it's just like an extended version with different experiences. **

**Random Fact: Someone did guess my name right :) It's.. Harmony! Since everyone knows my name now, I'll stop using my writer's name for this fic. ;)**

**IMPORTANT: I decided that I should probably stick to an uploading schedule.. I'll upload every Saturday and Wednesday.. I might do one or two chapters depending on however many I write.. I'll keep this story going as long as I can because I really enjoy it!**

**Enjoy the arrival of a new flock member!**

**~Harmony**

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 14: It's here

I squeezed Fang's hand. I couldn't believe it. I was giving birth… and Iggy was delivering the baby. Why you ask? Because I didn't want Fang going down there and I figured Iggy would be careful with his gentle hands making bombs and such.

Then again, I'm letting a blind guy deliver my child.

"OW, FU- OWWW" I yelled in Fang's ear.

After I fainted, the Flock managed to get me to a clearing in the woods because when I regained consciousness, I realized I was in serious labor and there was no way in hell I was going to a hospital. So here I am, giving birth in the middle of the woods.

"Max! You want the whole state to know you're—"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed at him. I breathed in and out. In and out….

Iggy yelled, "Push, Max! Almost out!"

"Is it done yet?" Gazzy and Nudge peered from over the jacket that was draped over my waist. This was extremely embarrassing and I assume highly graphic for the other kids (probably for Iggy too, if he could see), so I told them to stand back.

"Nope, almost… PUSH Max! One more!" Iggy instructed.

I took a long breath in. Okay one more. One, Two, Three….

"_Push!" _

I pushed as hard as I could. This was the most painful thing I ever did so if my baby isn't alive I'm going to be one depressed and angry mutant.

"THE BABY'S OUT!" I heard Iggy scream.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

It had been a couple of hours since I gave birth. The Flock got over the shock that I had been hiding this secret for a while now. Fang is still kind of pissed but when he saw the baby in my hands, he completely melted.

Apparently, the flock had all placed bets on the gender of the baby. I had known all along because I could just tell… call it motherly instincts I guess. Nudge and Angel wanted a girl. Obviously, the others wanted a boy to add to their little herd of pyromaniacs. Unfortunately, the boys were wrong.

I had a beautiful baby girl. She was honestly stunning. Soft, pale but not too pale skin. Rosy cheeks. And straight, slick black hair. Her lips were a bright shade of red. Her eyes hadn't opened yet so we didn't know the color of them. Of course, the flock had placed bets on that too. But most stunning of all, her _wings. Her wings are beautiful. _They were black from the base all the way to her tips. Just at the tip of her tiny wings, it faded out to the purest white, whiter than Angel's wings.

I held her in my arms and rocked her back and forth. I vowed to protect her no matter what. Even though she was created by an act of evil, I'll take care of her until I die and I'll never, _ever_ let the whitecoats get her.

"Can- can I hold her?" Fang asked quietly.

I looked up. "Sure" I smiled at him. I knew that she was Fang's as much as she was mine. After all, they did use DNA from Fang. This was our child.

"She has your hair." I breathed.

"And your lips." He whispered.

I smiled and looked at Fang. He looked so sweet holding our baby so gently. I decided to give him some time alone. I walked over to the rest of the flock, which was very painful after just giving birth a couple of hours ago.

"Here comes the mother..." Iggy teased playfully. "You shouldn't be walking you know." Of course, he was still worried.

"I think they're going to be light brown, like Max's eyes." Nudge predicted.

"Nah- definitely dark brown or black like Fang's eyes." Gazzy pointedly said. "I mean look at her hair! Black like Fang's, Black wings like Fang it makes sense that her eyes would be black too." Gazzy then noticed me. "But no offense Max!" He eyes grew wide.

"It's fine Gazzy… I agree with you there though. She does look a lot like Fang. But I have to say she definitely has my face shape and can't say that she doesn't have my personality but I have a feeling she will."

"I think her eyes are going to be blue." Angel said. "They're going to be the lightest blue you've ever seen."

Gazzy snorted. "Ha! As if! None of us have blue eyes except for you and me! And don't blonde hair and blue eyes or brown hair and blue eyes always go together?"

"Well you never know Gazzy!" Angel huffed. "Nature is unpredictable."

"Yeah as unpredictable as the sky falling right now." Gazzy mumbled.

"Guys! No fighting… this is supposed be a happy thing remember?" I tried to prevent an argument from ensuing.

"Oh my gosh! She is just the cutest thing EVER! She's going to be so hot when she grows up—"

I raised an eyebrow and tuned Nudge out. Then soon, I heard a baby cry.

"She's opening her eyes guys!" Fang updated.

We all rushed over to Fang… well I wobbled over there more like. My baby's eyes were fluttering.

"Light brown, light brown" Nudge whispered.

"No black! Come on!" Gazzy whispered with excitement.

My baby opened her eyes and we all gasped.

"Light blue." Angel smiled. "See."

Blue. They were the lightest blue I'd ever seen. Now she definitely won the genetic lottery. I leaned on Fang's shoulder. Then out of nowhere, she started crying... LOUD.

"Um, Max…" Fang held her out to me. "Max! I don't know what to do!"

"Uhhh well neither do I! I'm only sixteen!"

"Let me try!" Angel furrowed her brow and talked to the baby in her head. In about two seconds, she ceased her crying to soft hiccups.

"Whoa! She understood me!" Angel looked at me surprised.

"Well I guess she's going to be pretty smart then huh?" I smiled and looked at my baby in my arms.

_Phoenix. Phoenix Ride, you are my little warrior._

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**A/N: OTHER REALLY EXCITING NEWS FOR ME... I GOT INTO HARVARD (WOO HOO!) and MIT Decisions are coming out in 4 days! I'm so nervous... Just wanted to share because I worked my ass of for a LONG time for this and now I'm offered an athletics scholarship to Harvard because of dance omggg. If you didn't read before, I go to a professional dance school and have been since I was 5 and I wanted to make dance my career since it is my passion but I also need a backup plan which is Bioengineering/ Premed... ANYWAY Enough about me... onto the the BABY NAME.**

**The name, Phoenix, was obvious since I hinted at it a couple chapters ago with the Harry Potter rhyme. But anyway, the name is all James Patterson... if you haven't read the latest book, Maximum Ride Forever, (YOU REALLY SHOULD) at the end, he reveals the baby's name as Phoenix and I really liked it...**

**Hope you like where I'm going with this story... :) **

**~Harmony**


	15. Bird of the Sun

**A/N: It's Wednesday.. Uploading day! :) Here's a new chapter!**

**Random Fact: I was in fact accepted into MIT and that's probably where I'll end up going after my dance career. **

**Anyway, stay tuned for a new chapter on Saturday! Enjoy :)**

**000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000**

Chapter 15: Born of the Sun

It had been a week and I had to say, I'm a little disappointed that little Phoenix didn't have my personality… to be honest; she was a lot like Fang. Strong, silent and quite a bit like Angel actually… maybe it was the white in her wings, her eyes or the way she observed others. She was really smart… and strong. We were all really anxious to see her use her powers.

"Guys, I KNOW she has powers… I don't know what they are yet but I know she has them." I told the flock about what really happened with the erasers that day and they freaked out. They thought she was some type of genius hybrid.

"She EXPLODED them!" Gazzy said with excitement. "What if she kills us?!"

I looked a little offended… "She won't kill _us_ Gazzy… we're her family. We protect her, and she protects us."

"We have to train her to fight." Fang's voice came out strong. "Otherwise, she won't be able to protect herself."

"Of course we're going to teach her to fight… just not when she can barley lift her own head…" Iggy stated. "But when she starts walking… all the fun happens" Iggy wiggled his eyebrows.

"You are not teaching her to wire bombs!" I shoved him.

"You never knowww…" Gazzy sung out.

Angel and Nudge were a little further from out circle giggling and playing with the baby. We walked a couple miles out and bought a thin blanket to put on the floor so that Phoenix can roll around on the ground.

"Gazzy, why don't you go prevent Angel and Nudge from my making her into a prissy toddler." I nodded my head at the girls.

He nodded his head furiously. "Sure! There is no way I'm letting a girly-girl make bombs with us."

I winced at his proposition. I did _not_ want my baby making bombs… we've got a long way to go for that. I turned to Fang and Iggy. I wanted to discuss things with them.

"Okay guys what's out plan? I hate to admit it but I'm scared... we have a baby that's one week old and we haven't flown in what feels like forever. I want her lungs to get used to some altitude cause we can't go anywhere unless she can handle the height."

We've flown with Nix a couple of times but usually, just 1000 feet off the ground, she'll start wailing. We decided to go slowly and finally we reached 3000 feet. We can usually fly as high as a plane, which is 36,000 feet, if not, a little bit higher but we generally fly at low heights to monitor the ground.

"We have to try going higher with the baby…" Fang said.

"I know." I sighed and looked at Phoenix on the blanket. "Okay here's what we'll do. Tomorrow we have to leave. We've been here way too long. We have to leave Georgia… lets go North a bit."

"Agreed." Iggy nodded. "Maybe we can go to Boston! Jeb hates the cold so that would be great."

I flinched at the mention of Jeb and noticed a burning smell. "Guys do you smell that?" I swiveled my head around in to direction of the smell. I was coming from the girls and Gazzy. I sprinted over to them.

"I swear to god Gazzy, if you put a bomb anywhere near Phoenix…" Then I noticed the shock on their faces. "...What?"

"I think we found her power…" Nudge trailed off holding a piece of the blanket that was completely scorched and there were burnt ashes on the ground.

I took Phoenix in my arms and pried her fingers away from the blanket. Fang and Iggy ran over to me.

"What happened?"

Angel ripped a piece of the blanket off. "Watch this." She waved the blanket in front of Phoenix's face. She reached out to the cloth with her arms out. This went on for about a minute when Phoenix realized that she wasn't getting closer to the blanket….

"Its about to happen…" We all watched with wide eyes as Phoenix furrowed her brow in anger. Her pale blue eyes turned bright red.

"What is hap-"

"Shhhh-"

In a second flat, Phoenix grabbed the blanket from Angel and the blanket was covered in flames. Soon, all that was left was a black, burnt piece on the ground. Her eyes went back to pale blue and she giggled before some spitting some drool out.

There was silence for a couple seconds as we tried to grasp the fact that my baby could control fire.

"Ohhh my gosh…. Her power is wicked AWESOME! She's going to be sooo strong! Max can you believe it?! Oooh what if she has another power?! What if she can control the other forces of nature too…. Oh my gosh this is too much… it's too COOL-"

I cut Nudge off. "I knew there was a reason I decided to call her Phoenix." I smiled reminding them of the mythological bird. "Rising from the ashes, bird of the sun… of course her power would be fire related… it makes sense." I laughed to myself as the realization dawned on the rest of the Flock.

~Next morning~

We walked over to the closest Target to get supplies. I'd been feeding Phoenix the _natural_ way… and let me say it _hurts_. So I decided I would get some baby milk powder because we'd be flying. I bought a pacifier, and I bought all the flock thick jackets. We found a sharp object to cut slits in the back of them.

"Here" Fang handed me a sharp branch to tear two slits. You might be thinking what's the point of having jackets if we rip a giant hole in the back. Well, our wings are covered in feathers so it keeps our backs pretty warm… the rest of the body- not so much. Our wings were built to fit into the curves of our body so they were hardly recognizable under our clothes. They started in the upper middle of our backs and folded in before the tips wrap their way around our waist.

"Everyone done?" They nodded. "Now for you, Nix." I took her tiny thermal jacket that was barely the size of my arm. I cut two tiny slits. Just in case… keeping our wings so close to our body isn't as comfortable as it sounds. Phoenix had a habit of fluttering her wings often. Her black wings were the length of my fingertips to my elbow. They were so cute… but they were too weak to hold her body weight, as she was only one week and one day old.

"Okay ready?" I grabbed my backpack. I held Phoenix in a makeshift blanket carrier that was attached to my shoulder and wrapped around my chest. I faced her sideways so she could see and so I could support her head.

Everyone was really excited about having our first real flight with the baby.

"1…2…3… TAKE OFF!" Gazzy leaped into the air and made huge arcs. "Finally, we can fly!"

I laughed and followed Gazzy.

We had been flying for three hours and it was almost 1 in the afternoon so we decided to stop somewhere to eat. I got Phoenix her bottle and mixed some milk powder. I held the bottle up so she could suck on it. She drank it at an alarmingly fast rate. She looked at me with wide eyes and licked her lips for more.

Fang chuckled next to me. "I think she wants more, Max."

"This is her second bottle!" I leaned against Fang's shoulder. "This is so tiring but she's too cute." I laughed and started mixing another bottle. We were sitting at a booth in a fast food restaurant.

Suddenly, Angel met my eyes and I noticed her eyes were panicked. They were standing in the line about to order when she shifted her eyes to the man walking in the door: gruff, muscular, and alone. He eyed Nudge as she was ranting and stared at Gazzy.

_Oh no. Possibly an Eraser… possibly not. But there's no such thing as coincidence. _I looked at Angel, Nudge and Gazzy again. _I shouldn't get up to draw attention to us but I have to protect them. _I jabbed Fang and nodded towards the man staring at the kids.

_Angel, try controlling his mind to leave. _

'_I can't Max! He has a mind block up! What do I do?" _

I looked at Angel. She was speaking to Gazzy and Nudge as if nothing was wrong.

_Angel, listen! I can't get up or he'll notice us but there's a boys soccer team about to walk in here. I want you all to get lost in the crowd. When you do, go out the back door and wait at the corner. _

"_Okay Max. I trust you." _

Nudge made eye contact with me and looked frightened. I nodded in assurance to her. Then suddenly, the man stood up and walked towards them.

_Come on soccer team… share that win… please, please, please. _Like my prayers were answered, the team burst in yelling and hollering with a trophy. I saw the kids get lost in the crowed and burst out the back door. When the eraser arrived where they were, he looked around wondering where they went. His back was turned to us.

"Go, go go!" I shoved Fang out of the booth and grabbed Iggy to let him know. We burst out the front door. I clung Phoenix to my chest and ran to the others. I hid behind the corner just as the front door slammed open.

"Come on bird freaks, I know you're here." I heard the eraser snarl.

I mentioned the flock to go the other way. Suddenly, I heard a click and felt metal on the back of my head.

"Don't move."

_Another one? _

A girl eraser spit in my ear. "Oh what's this? A baby?" I felt her move the gun to the head of Phoenix. I was faced away from her. I was paralyzed with fear.

_Angel? Angel? Where are you! _

'_Other side of the building… oh god there's a gun to Phoenix.' _I could hear the terror in her thought.

_Come on Nix, get mad, get frustrated. Do something! _I silently thought and prayed.

"Well, well, well… looks like Maximum Ride has a child. Thought it'd be dead by now but clearly not." The eraser laughed. "This is great. I'll be promoted to lead if I bring back Ride _and_ her baby."

That statement snapped me out of my paralyzed state. They were _not_ getting my baby. Just then, Phoenix noticed how tense I was and furrowed her brow at the gun.

_It's happening. Come on Nix! You can do it! _

Phoenix put her head down and closed her eyes.

_You're sleeping? No, no, no. _

Then suddenly, she opened her eyes as they turned to a fiery red.

"Wha-" The eraser suddenly jumped back and I whipped around. She was burning in flames. "What's happening?!"

Then the gruff eraser that we saw earlier ran up. "Christine, oh my god what happened? Jeb's gonna kill me if you die!" He looked angry.

The eraser pointed to me as she was coughing and rubbing her self all over to get rid of the flames. "HER! The baby! It's a demon… it's a DEMONN!" She screamed, as the flames grew brighter and hotter. Then, as soon as she was engulfed in flames, she exploded.

The eraser stared and slowly backed away, "What the hell-" He ran off screaming bloody murder.

I hugged Phoenix and sprinted to the others. "She did it. She killed her first eraser." I said proudly.

**000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000****000000**

**Hope you enjoyed... If you did, please Review! :)**

**QUESTION OF THE DAY: Where do you all live? **

**I was born in the U.S but we moved to Russia at the age of 5 when I was accepted into dance school (Not named for privacy). I'm 17 now but I'm planning to join a company in New York. My parents moved from Russia to Shanghai to Delhi (because of their job.. my brother is 9 and living with them) and I'm in boarding at the dance school. **


	16. MIA

**A/N: Sorry guys! I had an application due today LOL procrastination at its finest. Anyway, This chapter is fairly long and this is where the plot gets a little bit more feisty. ;) Hope you enjoy!**

**Random Fact: I rolled my ankle on pointe yesterday when my partner stepped on my heel. Meh. It hurts... a LOT and it's currently in an ice bucket right now... oh well i guess. Its part of the sport haha**

**NEXT UPDATE ON WEDNESDAY.**

**Enjoy the chapter! REVIEWWW **

**~Harmony **

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 16: MIA

"That was awesome Max!" Gazzy yelled.

We were in a forest a couple cities away from where the "incident" happened.

I ruffled Gazzy's hair. "Um kinda scary… but yeah I'd say it was pretty awesome." I looked at Phoenix in Iggy's arms. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping.

"Okay guys back to a plan. We can't go north… The School already knows we're going there." I watched Fang take Phoenix in his arms. "Let's go south."

"OMG! We can go to Florida and see Disneyworld and it'll be so much fun!"

"Yeah! And the school is far away from it too!" Angel chimed in.

Angel ran up to me. "Please? Max, Can we go to Florida?"

I looked at Fang. He just shrugged and took my hand.

"Okay Florida it is." A chorus of cheers followed that. "But no Disneyworld until I know we're safe."

Little did I know that we were FAR from safe.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"_MAX DUCK!" _

I immediately dropped to the floor and rolled. I bullet whizzed past me. I turned around and saw a snarling Eraser.

"Time to die birdie." He snorted. "Jeb wants you alive but you've embarrassed us enough."

"Hm… not really in the mood for dying." This eraser was obviously weak.

I ran and kicked him in the chest. He fell down and grabbed my ankles. I got one ankle free and kicked him in the face.

"Arghh!" The eraser pointed his gun at me.

Just as he was about to shoot, I saw Phoenix crawling out from a corner.

"_Ahh the sun child... She really is a blessing isn't she."_

_Phoenix! What is she doing here?_

I opened my wings and kicked the eraser in the face. I smashed his face into the dirt and put my foot on his chest.

"No one messes with me." I punched him one more time and he went unconscious.

I ran over and picked up Phoenix. I peered into the diner.

_Where's the flock? _I sprinted over to the table where I left the flock. There was no trace of them except for Iggy's oil stained handkerchief that he uses for bomb making. I flew around the whole building and asking people if they've seen a group of five dirty looking kids. No one had seen them.

"Agh!" Phoenix giggled with spit drooling out. That's when I noticed the single, oil stained 'J' on Iggy's cloth.

_Jeb._

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

_Voice… tell me what to do! _

The voice was silent.

_Convenient time to shut up. _

Phoenix was starting to stir and get antsy so I needed to get her some food and then start searching for the flock. Obviously Jeb took them…

_He must have taken them to the school. I have to go back there and rescue my flock. _

I decided to go into town to feed the baby.

"Don't worry Phoenix. I'm getting you something to eat, and then we're off to find our family."

Phoenix looked up and giggled at me.

'_Mama' _

_What? Voice? _

'_Mama' _

_Who- _I looked at Phoenix and she was mouthing the words "Mama" but I could only hear them in my head. I gasped. _She has telepathy like Angel! _

"_Truly a special child." _

_Voice? How is this possible! _

"_Both you and Fang are very powerful. As you all know, you all were the most successful hybrids ever made. Phoenix is the first offspring ever born from a hybrid. Both you and Fang's DNA has special properties and your powers together are very strong. Phoenix is truly the most powerful being on earth. She doesn't know it yet." _

_But, this is too much! She's so young and she's already showing her powers… two of them! Are there more? _

"_As I said, Phoenix is the most powerful being as of now. She is capable of anything." _

_But you didn't answer my question!_

"_Don't you have bigger things to worry about?" _

"Ugh!" I screamed out loud. I ran and took off into the air. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

_Why does everything happen to me? I didn't ask to get experimented on. I didn't ask to be the leader of a flock. I didn't ask to fight for my life every waking moment. I didn't ask to have a child or get everything I've ever loved stripped away from me. Phoenix is so young. How am I supposed to take care of her? _

Phoenix was starting to settle in again when I felt drops coming down faster and faster. _Rain… just perfect! _

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and spill onto my cheeks. I began to descend when I spotted a motel. Flying in rain is super hard because it makes my wings super heavy. I had wrapped Phoenix in my jacket and hoped she didn't start wailing.

I wiped the tears off of my face and kissed Phoenix. I walked into the motel with a hopeful face.

"One room please." I smiled at the clerk. He questioned my tear stained face and baby in my arms. "Don't worry. She's mine… and she's safe."

I took the key and walked to the buffet area. There was still some food left... thank god. I mixed some milk and gave it to Phoenix to drink. After about the fourth cup, I decided that she would throw up if I gave her any more and turned her around to pat her so she could burp.

I entered out room and sat down on the bed with Phoenix.

"Tomorrow, you and I will find our flock. You'll see daddy!" I tickled her stomach. "Aren't you happy?" Her eyes lit up as if she knew what I was talking about. But hey, maybe she did.

God knows I would give anything to be with Fang right now. I'd never felt so alone in my life.

I held Phoenix close to me chest and walked to the window.

_Angel? Can you hear me? Please contact me if you can. I'm going to get you out. I promise. _

"Mama?" She looked at me with worried eyes.

"I'm fine Nix. I'm worried about the flock. Fang doesn't get scared often but he has to be scared right now."

_I need the Flock. I have to get them back. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to start looking for clues. _

I looked into the distance. I could see mountains silhouetted in front of the sunset.

_Where are you guys? _

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**A/N: Hope you liked it! I actually have a plot in mind now haha**

**NEXT UPDATE ON WEDNESDAY.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**

**~Harmony**


	17. Lost and Found and dead?

**A/N: Okay I'm posting this super fast right now... cause I have to leave for dance like in 2 min. **

**Random Fact: I'm 5' 7" **

**Hope you enjoy this nice LONG chapter :) **

**~Harmony**

**REVIEW!**

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 17:

_Okay, think Max. _

I looked around the room. The room was just beginning to light up with the first rays of the sun. The light was shining on the last memento I had of the flock. Iggy's handkerchief.

_Of course! There has to be a clue on it. _

I slowly moved Phoenix's head off of my chest and gently lay her down on the bed. I put pillows all around her so she didn't roll off. I silently sprinted to the cloth.

_Hmm. What's this? _

I assumed Jeb stained the 'J' on the cloth but maybe Iggy did as a clue of where to find them. When we were living in the L-shaped house, Iggy was obsessed with scavenger hunts. He would always put clues in the strangest places.

_Of course… Iggy's smart! _

The school had a tendency to put less security on Iggy because they underestimated his capabilities because he was blind. They did it all the time. I had a cage with a secure lock. He had a slightly less secure one. Whenever they captured us, they tied us with wire. They tied him with plastic. The only reason he never busted out was because he could never leave us. I looked back at the cloth. I flipped it over.

There was a small black arrow.

"_Ah your first clue!" _

_Oh. You're back. Can't believe I'm saying this but I actually need you. _

"_I feel so loved." _

_Yeah yeah… so what am I supposed to do with this arrow? From where am I supposed to start? _

"_I suggest going to the scene of the crime... Duh." _I could almost hear the Voice scoff.

_I need to find my Flock. Don't sass me. _

I started to fill my backpack with food and supplies that I stole from another room. They'll never know anyway. I grabbed Phoenix and strapped her to my chest. I pulled out a wad of cash and slapped it on the check out desk as I was running out.

"Good luck with the baby!" The clerk shouted after me.

"Thanks!" I sprinted out the door. "God knows I'll need it..." I murmured under my breath.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

I arrived at the restaurant where they went missing and sat where Iggy was sitting when I left. I opened the cloth and displayed it on the table. I moved the cloth so the 'J' was up right. The arrow was pointing to the left. I followed the line of sight and looked to the left.

_A waitress's butt? Ugh! Come on... move, move, move! _

A newsstand. The arrow was pointing to a newsstand. I practically jumped over the table and grabbed the newspaper.

_Crap! It's today's date. _

"Excuse me, do you think you have yesterday's newspaper?" I smiled sweetly at the waitress.

She looked at the baby on my chest and raised her eyebrows.

"We don't keep old newspapers honey, I'm sorry." She tucked the pen behind her ears. "But I think there might still be some in the dumpster out back."

"Thank you!" I ran past her to the dumpster. I reached in and pulled out some papers.

_Bills, bills, and ew… a wet bill! Finally! A newspaper! What am I supposed to be looking for? Voice? _

"_Why don't you use your brain for once?" _

_You're in my brain! _I shook my head. The voice was useless.

The front page said something about a play in dedication to Thomas Jefferson… the second page had something about Steve Harvey announcing a wrong winner… wait a second… Jefferson?

_There was a city close by… Jeffersonville! Yes! _

Just then, Phoenix started to move and soon she opened her eyes. Then, all of a sudden, she started wailing.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Finally, Phoenix had started to slow her breathing down and stop crying. I gave her a couple glasses of milk and now she was hiccupping quietly. Her ice blue eyes were peering out at the clouds below. I was on my way to Jeffersonville.

I began to descend.

_Flock, I'm coming for you! Angel can you hear me? _

'_Yes.' _

I gasped and almost forgot to flap my wings for a second.

_Angel! Where are you guys? Tell me where you are. _

'_I don't know Max… but I'm really scared.' _

_Okay that's okay Angel. What do you hear? _

'_I hear a lot of people. It's not a lab though. It's pitch dark and I'm inside some sort of box. I can't move and…and…' _

_Angel it's okay! Don't cry okay? I'm going to find you... don't worry! _

'_Max, I don't know where anyone else is.' _

_Angel, calm down. I'm going to find you and the rest of the flock okay? Don't worry. Can you hear me? _

I didn't hear anything from Angel.

_Angel? Angel? _

Crap. I had to find them now. I put my hands around Phoenix's head to protect her from the wind and used my super speed to jet it all the way to Jeffersonville.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Okay… where could they be? I looked around the area. I was in an outdoor mall type area. There was a festival going on and it was super crowded. Jeffersonville was probably the smallest town I've ever been in. I could walk around circumference in about 30 min. Apparently, a lot of festivals and concerts come out here because it's such an open space… plus it's cheap. Luckily, that narrows down my search a little.

I kept my eyes peeled for any dark, closed in spots where Angel could be.

_Angel can you here me? I'm here. _

'_Max I'm going to die.'_

_Don't say that. I'm here. I just need to find you. _I looked around.

'_They're going to kill me. There's a saw!' _

A saw! There was a poster for a magic show at 3 pm. I spotted a watch on someone. 2:50 pm… that's where Angel is.

I bobbed and weaved through the crowd of people looking for the magic show. Ah ha!

I slipped through the curtain and gasped. Jeb.

"Why hello Max." He stepped closer to me. "I'd thought you'd get here quicker."

I sneered at him. "If Angel is that box, I swear to god I will rip you apart."

"Why that's no way to talk to someone who took care of you for so long!" He smiled at me.

"Give me my Flock back." I grabbed an iron rod that was near me and threw it at him. "NOW."

Jeb jumped to the left. "My, my, you have certainly gotten weaker. I guess pregnancy can do that to you."

I gritted my teeth. _How dare he._

_Angel, are you in there?_

'_Yes.' _

I took a breath in and stepped forward. "Jeb, give me my flock back. You can take me but not my Flock"

"Oh I'm sorry Max… but it's not you we want." He eyed Phoenix. "We want her."

"Well, you'll never get her."

"We'll see about that." He mentioned for the erasers behind him to come charging at me.

I kicked one eraser in the chest and did a roundhouse kick in the face of the other one. I covered Phoenix's face with one hand and punched the erasers with the other.

_Come on Phoenix. Work your magic! _

Phoenix giggled, thinking this was some sort of game. She looked at the erasers and put her arms out. Then suddenly, I had an idea.

"Okay, okay! I quit!" I looked at Jeb. "You can have her… but I'm coming too."

'_Max! What are you doing?' _I ignored Angel.

"I knew you come around." He mentioned for the erasers to stop fighting. "Hand over the baby."

I pretended to cry and hug Phoenix. "Here" I slowly reached out with Phoenix in my hands. "Promise me she'll be safe?"

"Don't worry, we'll take care of her just fine." Jeb flashed a toothy smile at me. "Glad to know you're cooperating with me. I knew you had a good heart."

_Come on Phoenix… _I looked at Phoenix straight in the eyes. Her eyes were slowly turning to pink… then red. She looked at Jeb and giggled. I handed Phoenix to Jeb. The moment she touched Jeb, he erupted into flames… and Phoenix was in the center of the fire.

"Phoenix!" I lunged to grab her but then I realized she wasn't getting burned. I walked towards the fire, mesmerized by it. I reached out to the fire to Phoenix and immediately, the fire died down.

"You… you did this!" Jeb pointed a burnt finger at me.

"You clearly don't know me very well if you think I cry." I held Phoenix on my hip as tight as I could.

Jeb gasped for air. He was lying on the ground. There were burn marks all over him and his entire skin was brown. The erasers looked terrified of Phoenix. They grabbed Jeb and ran away.

I ran to the black box and undid the lock. Angel!

"Oh Angel…angel!" I broke the handcuffs and helped her get out.

"You came for me!" She hugged me.

"Of course I came for you!" I hugged her back. "I missed you so much… Jeb is definitely hurt but he won't back down. We need to find another way to-"

"Max. Listen to me. The others are in danger. I heard Nudge's thoughts. They weren't clear but I think I know where they are."

"Lead the way." I followed Angel as she navigated artfully through the crowd. It was becoming dark and a little hard to see with all the neon lights. We pushed past a family and she ran to the food court and stopped. She rubbed her temples. She kept running straight when she abruptly stopped.

"There!" I looked at a secluded table near a tent. The entire flock was at the table.

"Oh my gosh! Guys! What happened?" I ran to them and was about to hug them when I noticed the atmosphere had changed. Gazzy and Iggy were sitting on one bench and Fang and Gazzy on the other. They all had their hands under their legs and we're sitting up straight. Nudge and Gazzy had tears running down her face and their lips were pursed. Gazzy noticed me and opened his eyes wide. Everyone was very stiff and wasn't moving an inch Gazzy looked at me and shook his head ever so slightly.

That's when I noticed the red lights under the table. Motion detector bombs.

I gathered up all my courage and tried to put on a brave face. _"_Angel. Ask Gazzy and Iggy."

She furrowed her brow and I could see sweat breaking on her forehead. Her eyes started to well up with tears and she looked at me.

"They can't." Tears started rolling down her face. "They can't disarm the bomb without killing everyone."

I took a shaky breath in. I looked at Fang and could almost see his eyes getting wet. I think the tiny morsel of hope that I had just shattered into a million tiny pieces.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Hope I didn't disappoint with the plot! **

**~Harmony**

**REVIEW :) **


	18. Psychotic Bird

**A/N: I'm back :) Still kind of busy but I wanted to take a break from writing essays so I decided to do this... and I was going to upload it after the 6th like I said but I felt like I've kept you guys waiting for a while now so here's the next chapter. It involves a bit of a time skip cause I'm not going to keep writing Max's day to day life about her with a newborn cause it would get too boring. **

**Phoenix is definitely a special child and there's going to be more to come! **

*****GO TO THE PROFILE PIC OF THIS STORY TO SEE WHAT PHOENIX LOOKS LIKE*****

**Enjoy! NEXT UPDATE ON SATURDAY... and it's from a different P.O.V. Guess who's! ;)**

**~Harmony **

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 18:

I was still standing there. I stared into Fang's wet eyes. It looked like he was trying not to cry but when he saw Phoenix, his eyes started to well up.

"Don't worry guys. I'll figure this out." I tried to assure them.

"Max! There's no way out of this… I'm telling you!" Angel shook her head and was sobbing hysterically.

I hugged Angel, squishing Phoenix between us.

"Wait guys. There has to be a switch somewhere else. Otherwise, when Jeb switched the detectors on, and walked away, he would have blown into pieces."

"You're right Max! Lets start looking!" Angel furrowed her eyebrow and started looking around.

I noticed the lights on the detectors were blinking in sort of pattern.

"Angel look. The lights on the bomb…. Its in some sort of pattern." I closed my eyes and listened. Da-da Da-da Da-da-da-da-da… the carousel music was annoyingly loud. I opened my eyes. That's it!

"The lights go to the carousel music!" I ran over to the carousel. Each time it made one round, the music would play once. I looked at the control systems. There was a light next to the lever. There has to be some way to deactivate the bomb.

"Iggy, how many times has that music played since the bomb has been on." Iggy is the only one who obsessively counts things like that. "Blink."

Iggy looked at me… he blinked 14 times. I ran back to the carousel.

"Um, hi, how many times has this song been played?"

"Maam, if you want a ride, you're gonna have to wait your turn—"

I glowered my eyes at him. "How many times."

"Maam, please step back or I'm going to have to call security."

"It's 14, Max!" Angel glared at the worker.

The worker gave Angel a weird look and ran back to the controls.

"Every one buckle onto the seats! Ready…"

"NO!" I yelled I sprinted to the controls and pushed the man. I slammed my hand down on the red button to shut down the whole ride. I noticed that the lights on the bombs turned off.

The flock jumped up off the table and ran for me. I was engulfed in a crowd of hugs.

"Max! I was so scared that we we're going to die! I mean if Iggy and Gazzy couldn't deactivate it, that I was sure that you couldn't either-"

"THIS IS SECURITY. Hands up!"

"Oh shoot." I murmured under my breath. We couldn't fly cause by now, there was a whole crowd and I'm sure they'd take pictures and it would be all over. "We gotta run."

I put my hands up and slowly turned around. I saw the flock doing the same. We faced the security guard. He was a fat guy with a beer belly and a gun in his waist belt.

"Now I don't mean to cause any trouble but I hear you harassed a worker? I'm gonna need to take you in for questioning." He started to walk towards us.

"Three." I whispered. We all took off towards the exit.

"HEY! Catch them!"

These humans were surprisingly slow. I laughed in my head. "Woods!"

We all ran into the woods and ran until we saw a clearing. "Up!" We all took off into the air. I looked at my flock and smiled. We were finally safe…. (ish).

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

*****GO TO PROFILE PIC FOR THIS STORY TO SEE WHAT PHOENIX LOOKS LIKE*****

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

~4 YEARS LATER~

It's been four years since I gave birth to Phoenix. Today was her birthday. Since that crazy incident with Jeb, we'd been in hiding. We were living in Colorado. We found a large cave that was extremely well concealed. It was very tall, big enough for us to fly a couple feet too. It was the perfect weather for us and we loved living here with Phoenix. Everyone loved her. Angel and Nudge did girl things with her, Fang and I teach her to fight, and Gazzy and Iggy (as much as I don't like it) teach her how to make bombs and they occasionally fight her for practice.

"Mommy! Look what I did!" Phoenix pointed to Gazzy.

"Yeah she gave me a freaking black eye!" Gazzy crossed his arms and huffed. "I can't believe I let a 4 year old punch me."

"Ha! You got beat up by a 4 year old and a girl too." Iggy was shaking with laughter. "Good job Nix!" He high-fived her.

"Phoenix! You are NOT supposed to hit Gazzy…." I looked at Gazzy's eye. "But its kind of true, Gaz. How did you let Nix beat you?!"

"She distracted me! She pretended that she was actually hurt and then hit me!"

"Nix, no manipulation.,. Remember? If someone actually decided to attack you, and you pretend to be hurt, they won't stop and ask if you're okay. They'll kill you."

"Yeah well if the erasers or whatever attacks me, I'll kill them first." She stated with scary intensity.

"Okay Nix." I laughed nervously as she sat across from me. She looks exactly the same as she did when she was a baby.

She still had perfect long black hair that went all the way to the middle of her back. She had a round face with a pointed chin, rosy cheeks, and red lips. The most striking feature was still her eyes. Somehow, it seemed like they had gotten even lighter blue but now there were barely noticeable red flecks in them.

"So what are we doing today?" She looked up at me.

"I think you should get a haircut." Fang walked into the cave. Him and Iggy had made a door that covered the entire entrance of the cave so it wouldn't get too cold.

"Daddy!" Phoenix ran over and hugged Fang's legs. He picked her up and kissed her. "You want to cut your hair?"

"Nooooo! Her hair is so pretty Fang! Its perfect and long and pretty." Nudge pretended to pout.

"I agree with Fang, Nudge. It's pretty but its kind of a hassle. Especially when she learns to fly better, it'll be hard to manage."

"I want to cut my hair. I want it to be short!" Nix kicked her legs.

"Whatever you want, it's your birthday!" I smiled.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

About an hour later, everyone was ready to head out. We all put on our coats and left.

"Can I fly?" Phoenix asked me.

She was pretty good at flying but she sprained her wing a week ago with a wrongly executed turn.

"Alright but if it hurts, I'm carrying you."

She nodded at me. She leaped up into the air with her hair flying past her.

"Try and catch me! Bet you can't!" Phoenix was an amazing flyer… and she had my super speed. Well, it wasn't that fast yet but I believed the speed came with age.

I watched everyone chase after her. I looked at Fang next to me. I leaned my head against his shoulder.

"How did our life get so amazing?"

"By whitecoats injecting you with my sperm."

"Okay… Ignore that question." I smiled and shoved him. He grabbed my hand and kissed me. I cupped my hands around his face and kissed him back.

"Ewwww!" I heard Nix scream.

Iggy yelled. "Fang, get a room! There's a child amongst us."

"Iggy I'm gonna kill you!" Fang shouted, charging towards him.

I chuckled to myself and took off into the air. "Lets go guys! Phoenix, you want that haircut?"

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

The door jingled as we walked through. We were in a mediocre sized town that was close to the mountains. There was a good barber shop

"Hello! Who might be getting their hair cut today?" A cheery old lady asked.

"Hi Gracie!" Phoenix greeted the old lady.

Gracie was the lady we all went to for haircuts. Now, I've never had many human friends in my life besides Ella and Dr. Martinez but I consider Gracie a friend. She was super nice and friendly and gave surprisingly good advice.

"Hey! Its actually for Phoenix." I smiled.

"Oh you're very first hair cut… and on your birthday too!" She smiled and took Nix's hand. "Well we've got your favorite spot open."

There was a section for adults and a section for kids. There were cute little chairs for them... one was shaped as daisy duck and Minnie mouse but her favorite was the giant hawk.

Gracie lifted Phoenix up into the chair and started wetting her hair. "What do we want today?"

"Just something short. Maybe a bob cut? We just want something easy to manage."

Gracie nodded. "Got it honey." She wet her hair and started combing it all the way down. Then she started snipping away. She went all the way up to her shoulders and swiveled Nix to the side. Then, she started cutting her hair a little bit angled on the sides. She washed her hair in the sink and started blow-drying her hair.

"Ready to see it Nix?"

She nodded. Gracie removed to towel from her head. It was a straight sleek bob cut with long side bangs. Her hair in front naturally framed her round face and she looked so adorable.

"It feels good!" She shook her head so her hair swayed in front of her face. "Thank you!" She smiled at Gracie.

"No problem honey. And consider this your birthday present… no charge!"

"Oh you don't have to do that… let me pay-"

"Don't even think about it. I know you have a lot of mouths to feed. Enjoy the rest of the day!"

"Thank you Gracie!"

We walked out of there as Phoenix was licking a lollipop. "Ready to go?"

"No! I want to stay in the city and play!" Phoenix stomped her foot.

"Nix, it's too dangerous here... we can play at home!"

"No. I want to play here." Her tone dropped to a low dangerous hum.

Here we go again. Phoenix had a bit of a temper problem. Her powers were hard to control so until she learned to control them, it was dangerous for her to be with other kids.

"Phoenix, calm down and listen to me."

"No." She started to close her eyes.

"Fine we can play here but not too long." I sighed and glanced at Fang. I let everyone else take her to the park across the street.

"Fang what are we going to do? She clearly can't control her powers. She was going to use them on me… ME!"

"I think we should put her in school."

"What?!" I was surprised. "School? Where there are other people her age… where she is an open target for anyone to attack her… she's never even interacted with anyone else besides us and Gracie."

"Exactly. She needs to learn to act normal. She needs to learn to protect herself and how to act when we're not there."

"What if she shows her wings or something?"

"We can't protect her all the time Max." He looked at me. "She needs to learn to hide them when necessary instead of us reminding her all the time. This is what?... the fourth time she's even been in the city? She needs to be with people her age."

I can't say I disagree. I loved that she was more mature than any kid her age but she did need social interactions.

"Fine. I agree. We'll enroll her in school next semester."

We walked over to the park and watched her as she played. Angel and Nudge went to a clothing store nearby and Iggy and Gazzy went to a hardware store when we arrived at the park.

"Mommy, I want to play with that." Phoenix pointed to the sandbox where some kids were playing with water guns.

"Go ask if you can share it with them…" I told her. "Nicely!" I added.

"Phoenix walked over to them. "Can I share that with you?"

The boy laughed at her. "No! A girl playing with a gun?"

"I said I want to share that with you."

"And I said no!" The boy shoved her and started squirting at his friend. "Move over! This is mine!"

Phoenix curled up her fist and glowered her eyes. "Never tell me no."

"OW! The water is burning!" The other boy held his face and ran to his parents.

Phoenix smiled and picked up the water gun and started playing with it.

"Okay scratch what I said before… Phoenix needs to start school asap." I told Fang as we both watched what Phoenix did.

"Yeah. Lord knows she could end up killing someone for _fun_." Fang said.

I looked at him worriedly. "Yeah…"

"It was a joke!" Fang put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulders.

I smiled. _I sure hope it was a joke. _I thought to myself.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

*****GO TO PROFILE PIC FOR THIS STORY TO SEE WHAT PHOENIX LOOKS LIKE*****

**A/N: Hope you liked it. Review! :)**


	19. Fern

**Hey everyone! So sorry this is up a day late... I had it typed out and everything but yesterday, I got one of my top university decisions and found out that I was rejected.. not even waitlisted or deferred. I wa straight up denied.. so yesterday was not fun. **

**Anyway, I felt bad so I'm uploading this today :) This chapter is a bit different because up until now, the entire story is from Max's point of view but this chapter will mostly be from Phoenix's P.O.V. **

**Please review and give me feedback on if you guys like this chapter or not since it's a bit different :) **

**~Harmony**

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 20:

"Remember, no showing your wings. Keep them tucked in to your back and NEVER engage in a fight with your powers." I buttoned Phoenix's jacket.

"What if they hurt me?"

"They won't."

I took her hand and we flew into town. We landed in the woods behind her school.

"Okay this is your school Nix." I knelt down to her level. "I know this might be scary and to be honest, I hated going to school but you need to interact with people your age."

"I don't want to go if you aren't coming with me." She stomped her foot and crossed her arms.

"I know everyone is going to be older than you but you're smarter than them."

Phoenix huffed.

"Fine. If you're going have a bad attitude about it then I'll go." I started to pretend to walk off.

"No, wait! I'll go!" Phoenix ran and hugged my leg.

I smiled a little. _So Phoenix responds to manipulation. Huh. Interesting. _

"Alright, lets go… and remember what I said. Don't talk about anything to anyone alright?"

"Got it!" She looked up at me with her blue eyes. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too, Nix." I guided her to the front of the building. "Here we are."

I watched as Phoenix walked off with her black Jansport backpack. She looked so much younger than all the other kids in her grade. She had just turned 5 but she was in first grade because she was smart. Angel had taught her well. I watched her glance back at me with her hair framing her face. She was wearing skinny jeans with a grey sweater. And of course, when she saw my signature combat boots, she said she wanted a pair too so there she was in her cheap, miniature combat boots.

"Bye!" She yelled as she walked through the door. I waved goodbye and started to walk into the woods. Today was her first day of school. I can't see into the future but I have a feeling that this year is going to be crazy.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**~PHOENIX P.O.V~**

"Bye!" I yelled as I waved to my mom. I breathed out. My first steps into a normal human school.

I had never had a human friend before besides Gracie. I didn't really want any friends to be honest. I had the flock and they were all I needed. I was doing this for Dad and Mom. They wanted me to go to school so here I am…. first day of first grade. Here we go.

I opened the door and the hallways blasted with warm air compared to the chilly air outside. I had come here last week to take my placement exam. I was actually qualified to join 2nd grade but they put me in first.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember where the room was. I walked down the hallway and made a right. _Hmm I think it was room 102? _I closed my eyes again and pictured the hallway- birds eye view. _Ah-ha! Just down a few more. _

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

I opened my eyes. I saw a girl with brown hair who was on the floor.

"Oh sorry. I didn't see you there..." I reached out an arm to help her up.

"Of course you didn't… your eyes were closed!" She got up and dusted herself off. She brushed past me and murmured something. "Weirdo."

I could feel the anger coming up. '_I even asked to help her and she calls me a weirdo! UGH.' _I tried to relax. '_Control your powers. You can do this.' _

I walked into the room and looked around. There were multiple groups of four desks clumped together with names on them. I walked around to find my name.

'_Sam, George, Lilly, Fern,- aha! Phoenix.' _I sat down and looked across from me. There was a girl named Fern. She kind of looked like me except that she had green eyes instead. Next to her was the girl who I accidentally bumped into and next to me was a girl named Lauren.

I smiled at Fern. She just stared at me. _Okay then… I guess no one is friendly at this school. _

"Hello class! My name is Ms. Wilson and today is your very first day of first grade! Are you excited? I know I am!" She grinned from ear to ear at the class. "Okay so first, we're going to play a little game to get to know each other better! The person across from you is your partner."

I looked at Fern. After the teacher finished explaining the game, she said we could start.

"Hello." Fern stared at me with intense light green eyes. "20 questions. Go."

"Hey… um..." I thought of a question to ask.

"Are those your real eyes?" She asked me.

"Yeah. Are those yours?" I asked back.

"Indeed they are… Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope, I live with my mom and the flo-" I pursed my lips together. "...dad, two uncles, and two aunts… you?" _Phew. Close call._

"My foster sister is sitting right next to me and my foster brother is in 3rd grade. Do you have any talents?"

'_Oh plenty.' _"If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

Fern smiled a little. "Well can you kill my sister instead?"

"Glad to." I laughed with her. I think I just made my second human friend.

After we had already asked each other 20 questions, we still had about 10 min left so we continued to talk.

"Where did you live before coming here?" I asked her.

She shifted in her seat. "Oh.. um.. I lived… all over. Mostly in California. What about you?"

"I was born in Georgia but we moved here right after I was born."

"Oh so you know this place pretty well then?"

"Not really… family kind of lives in the middle of nowhere..." I tried to change the subject. "So what special talents do you have?"

"Well… I'd probably have to kill you too." She laughed with me.

"Good one! Wonder where you heard that phrase before..." I smiled at her.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

I was having so much fun today! Fern was the coolest human I'd ever met. She was super smart and she could even run as fast as I could! We had just finished lunch and we decided to have a race. After that we were walking around the field when Fern noticed something.

"Hey look at that." Fern pointed to a 3rd grader picking on a girl named Samantha in our class. "That's my…. brother."

"He looks like a jerk." I commented.

Fern rolled her eyes. "Yeah acts like one too."

"Um. He's coming this way Fern."

"Hey sis!" He sneered at her. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your first friend?" He crossed his arms and leaned down at her.

"Why should I." She glowered her eyes at him.

'_Woah. She can be scary. I'd be scared if I was her brother. Wait is that what I look like when I do that?'_

Her brother shoved her. "Because I'm your older brother now and you have to do what I say!"

"Don't touch her." I said in a quiet menacing voice.

"Oh look _Fern. _Your little friend wants to protect you." He laughed and stepped forward to grab my hand.

I grabbed his wrist. "_Don't_ touch me either." I kicked him in his pudgy stomach and he fell right on his butt. I started to punch him in the face when someone suddenly caught my wrist.

"Phoenix, _don't_. Let it go." I tried to wriggle my wrist free but I couldn't. Either Fern was inhumanly strong or I was getting weak. She pulled me away to the back corner of the building.

I was seething with rage. _'Okay. Control. You can control.' _I breathed out. "Your brother was going to beat you up! How can you just let him do that?"

"I don't. But you can't beat him up Phoenix—"

"How were you able to stop me from punching him." I demanded.

"What do you mean?" She looked at me with glowing green eyes.

"You're not human. There's no way. You can beat me in a race, you stopped me from punching someone, and no one has eyes like that." I looked into her eyes. "You're from the school aren't you."

She widened her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking-"

"Yes you do I can read your mind… You suspected that I was from the school too so you put mind blocks up… up until just now."

"Fine." Her green eyes narrowed. "Who are you and what do you want."

"I'm exactly who I said I was but clearly you aren't." I narrowed my eyes back at her.

"Well you're honest are you? I know you aren't human either." She stepped forward. "What are you?"

"I'm Phoenix. Figure it out." I smirked. "What's your story?"

"Born and brought up in the school. My real older sister broke me out. Erasers killed her. So I had to fend for myself. Social Services found me and I've been in the system for a year. I've been switching homes for the past 2 months and this is where I am now. I like the mom but her kids are horrible as you probably noticed." She took a breath and waited for me to tell my story.

'_I hope Phoenix likes me. I've never found anyone with other abilities beside myself. Wait. She can read my mind…' _

Well she seemed trustworthy. I'll get Angel to verify but... I decided to trust her.

"My entire family, the flock, was brought up at the school and a rogue scientist broke them out and they lived with him for about 3-4 years. Then, the whitecoats betrayed them and the flock has been on the run every since. My mom, the leader of the flock, and my dad liked each other and ended up with me. The school is looking for me so we're in hiding. I call the rest of flock my aunts and uncles cause they're basically siblings to my parents."

"So you really do have a mom and a dad?" She sat down cross-legged in the grass.

"Yeah." I sat down next to her. "But you have foster parents right?"

"It's not the same though. Even though they say they'll treat you like their own child, they don't. I don't even know who my real mom or dad is." Fern looked down at her hands. "My sister was the only person who took care of me. The last thing she said to me was that she loved me and she told me to be safe." She looked up and mentioned at the surroundings. "I hate the foster system but if this is what I have to do be safe, then I'll do it."

"Well, now you have me right? We're both hybrids… I get you. My family doesn't know who their parents are either... but it'll be okay." I would hug her but she didn't seem like the affectionate type. "You know, if you ever want to feel comfortable, I can take you to our place."

"Really?" She looked at me.

I smiled and nodded. "I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind…"

"No its okay. I don't want to make your parents mad or anything. I know the whole staying low thing can be hard."

"No seriously. If you every need anything, just find me."

Just then, the bell for the end of lunch rang.

"Lets go." Fern leaped up on her feet and started running to the door. "Bet you can't beat me!"

"Bet I can!" I laughed as I sprinted to the door.

"_I can't wait to show Fern to the Flock. They've told me so many amazing stories about other mutants but this is my first time meeting one for myself!" _

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

It had been a week since the first day of school… and a week since I met Fern. She was my best friend. I found out that she was 95% human, 3% flying fox **[A/N: it is really a thing LOL] (**which explains how she's so fast), and 2% feline. She had very large black leathery wings, which were just a bit larger than mine. Her green eyes now made sense that she was part feline. Her powers included that she's very fast on foot, she can see in the dark, and some others, which she won't tell me.

Fern started walking across the field to the woods. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"Race you!" I started sprinting to the woods. Soon, I passed her. "Ha! I'm beating you." I laughed mockingly.

Fern smiled slyly. "In your dreams Nix." In about 2 seconds, she was already ahead of me and we had already reached the woods.

"Whoa." I tried to catch my breath. "That was _incredibly_ fast."

"Well that's what happens when you have fox and cat DNA."

"You're not even out of breath… geez." I had never run faster than the capabilities of my flock and Fern definitely overpassed that.

"Yup." She smiled proudly. She looked over to a clearing. "Wait what's that?"

"It's just a clearing… why?"

"No past that…. I hear water."

I listened closer. "I can't hear anything."

"It's a lot of water! Let's check it out!"

"Are you sure? I can't hear it so it must be pretty far away."

"We have half the day! We'll be fine..." She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the sound.

After about 30 min of walking, I asked "Fern, are you sure its even here?"

"I have really good hearing. I think it's only 10 more min."

I sighed. "Okay but-" Then I heard the fair sound of water rushing. "Wait! I hear it now!"

"Lets go!" We started picking up the pace and the sound got closer and closer. We pulled back the leaves and looked at the sight in front of us in awe.

"It's beautiful." Fern's eyes lit up as she walked towards the huge waterfall.

"Lets take a swim!" I started to walk towards the pool of water.

"No! It's way too cold… and its winter. Are you crazy?" She pulled me back. "You'll freeze!"

I smirked knowingly. "Oh please." I put my feet and hands in the small pool and mentioned for her to come in. "I'm not afraid of the cold."

I waved my hands around in the ice-cold water. I closed my eyes. I could feel the comforting heat coursing through my body.

"Phoenix, are you okay?"

I opened my eyes and could feel the heat radiating off of my body. I knew my eyes were a fiery red.

"I'm fine." I looked at Fern who looked a little freaked out.

"Your… eyes. They're like fire..." She looked into my eyes mesmerized.

I laughed. "Come on Fern. The water isn't cold anymore." I moved the water around with my hand and it started bubbling.

"That's a pretty insane." She carefully put her feet in the pond.

"Yeah and it's also really hard to control and super dangerous."

"Oh come on, how dangerous can it be."

"Well, when I was probably a week old, I killed my first eraser."

"Whoa really?" Fern raised her eyebrows. "How many erasers have you actually killed?"

"Well technically, my mom said I killed about 50 erasers when I was in her stomach. And then a week after I was born, I killed another one and then about a month after that, I think I almost killed two more." I was pretty proud that I had done all of that.

"I know it sounds psychotic but every single time I killed an eraser, they were trying to kill my family."

Fern laughed. "Yeah I totally get it. When my sister and I were in the school, they would make us fight the erasers almost every week so we wanted to kill them every time."

"How was it? I mean being at the school and everything? The flock always tells me stories about how it was horrible and Angel would show me pictures in my mind but I guess I'll never know…"

"...Without living it." Fern finished. "Yeah it was probably the scariest time in my life but it made me stronger and after my sister broke me out, that was probably the best time of my life."

"How was she? Your sister."

Fern looked down at her hands and then looked at me. "Her name was Ember. She was the best person in my life. She looked exactly like me and had the same powers and everything. When we broke out, I was 4 and she was 13. We had so much fun. We were doing the normal things for about the first couple of months. Flying to random cities, staying low, eating whatever we could find. Then, one night, we were sleeping and when we woke up, erasers surrounded us."

She took a breath. "We started to fight them but there were too many. I was fighting two erasers at once when one of them pointed a gun and shot at me. My sister jumped in front and she got shot instead. When the erasers saw the blood, they became psycho. That's when we realized that these erasers had been in the area for weeks trying to look for us with no food and they were hungry. So when they saw my sister dying, they pounced on her. My sister told me that she loved me and told me to be safe before the erasers devoured her. I tried to fight them but I was too weak." Fern looked into the distance as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I can still hear Ember's screams echoing through the woods sometimes."

I realized that I was almost crying myself. Fern hard gone through so much hardship in her life. She had to _watch_ as erasers ate her sister. I put an arm around Fern. "I am so sorry Fern. I wouldn't have asked if I knew that that's what happened."

She put her face in the water and came back up. "No it's okay. I haven't talked about it to anyone since it happened."

"Ember could control fire like you too. You remind me of her a lot." Fern pulled down her collar. "My sister embedded this the day before she was killed. She had one too." On her collarbone, there were two small lumnicient symbols. A fire and a leaf and under it, it said "_Safe." _

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

We had been playing around in the waterfall for a while and we were exhausted now.

"That was so much fun!" I laughed.

"I never have this much fun back at home." She grinned at me.

"You know I can't help but feel as if we found each other for a reason." Fern sat up and leaned against the rock behind the waterfall.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. In the entire school, we happened to meet each other and we both just happened to be mutant hybrids."

"True and not to mention that you can control heat and fire, just like my sister."

"Yeah." I thought some more and remembered the symbols. "Wait, what does a leaf have to do with you?"

"Oh that." Fern smiled slyly. "Watch this." She mentioned for me to swim to the pond.

Then she closed her eyes and it suddenly got a little windy. Then by Fern's command, small flowers started to bloom in the bushes next the pond. The wind picked up a little and the flowers flew into the pond. Before I knew it, flowers floating on top of the water surrounded me.

"Fern, that is so cool! It's beautiful!" I looked around me in awe.

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's a gift." She smiled.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**What did you guys think? REVIEW and let me know! **

**~Harmony**


	20. Out of the woods

**A/N: Sorry guys! I missed a day but hopefully, it's okay... I didn't have time to write a super long chapter like I normally do so here's a really sloppy kinda okay-ish chapter.. Hope it's still appreciated! ****I've been really stressed with school and everything so I'm trying to write chapters whenever I have time. This is definitely not my best chapter so bear with me. **

**Updates: I got rejected from my number 1 college so I basically cried all of last weekend. So this week was frantically changing my number 2 college to early decision and hoping for the best. **

**Anyway, Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**(PICTURE OF WHAT PHOENIX LOOKS LIKE IS PROPIC FOR THIS STORY. In actuality, she would look a couple years older but that's basically what she looks like.) **

**~Harmony**

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Max P.O.V**

"Guys, she's still not back." I was starting to worry a little.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's still playing with her friend… what was her name?" Fang looked into the distance.

"Fern." Angel spoke up. "She's fine, Max. I can still feel her thoughts. She's too far for me to listen to them but I sense that Phoenix is okay."

"That gives me little to no reassurance." I looked pointedly at Angel. "But at least she's okay."

Angel smiled. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. If you're still worried after half an hour, I'll go look for her."

I nodded at Angel.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**PHOENIX P.O.V**

"Um do you know where we are?" Fern looked at me.

I shook my head. "If I did, I'd be guiding us back home."

How did we manage to get so lost? We were playing at the pond one minute and… we decided to play hide and seek. We didn't exactly specify the parameters so before we knew it, we were far from the pond.

"What time is it?"

"Maybe around 7:00?" I looked around for a clearing. "Start looking for a clearing, maybe we can get airborne and look for a way out of this forest."

Fern looked for a clearing, although in this situation, my sight was better. She took one side and I took the other.

"Hey, I found one! Its all the way over there though…" I mentioned Fern to come over to me. "Lets go!" We ran towards the clearing.

Well it was a clearing… but the tall trees had branches that were jutting out and I'm not exactly skilled in dodging them yet. To be honest, it kind of scared me.

"This is enough space! Come on!" Fern was getting ready to take off when she saw me.

"I can't do it." I looked a little embarrassed. "I can't weave through the branches… its scary."

"Well there is another option that you probably haven't tried."

Soon, I was climbing the tree to the very top. Fern was below me watching.

"Okay now once you're at top, stand on the tallest branch and jump and unfurl your wings!" She cupped her hands and yelled.

I took a breath and jumped as high as I could and unfurled my wings. I squeezed my eyes shut expecting to plummet back on the branches. I opened my eyes and found myself high above the forest. I flew back down a little.

"Come on Fern!" I had never seen her wings so I was excited. This was the first time we would be flying together.

Fern looked up and with the most graceful agility, she bounced from trees, branch to branch in a zigzag until she reached halfway up the tree. When she was sure there was enough space, she unfurled her huge bat-like wings and shot up into the sky.

"Woah… your wings are so cool, Fern!" They were thin like a bats wings but they had a little fur on the. She didn't have to flap as much as we did cause her wings caught air better because they were thin.

"Say's the one with the wings that look like the Angel of Death." She laughed. "They're so black… They're beautiful!"

"Thanks…" I smiled sheepishly. "Lets find a way out of here!"

My instincts kicked in and my body guided me to the east. "This way!" We flew some miles that way and soon enough, we saw the wide fields that we always went to. We landed at the edge of the field and decided that it was time for us to go home.

"Bye Fern!" I waved at her. "This was so much fun! Tomorrow again after school?"

"Yup! Wouldn't miss it for the world!" She smiled. "See you!" She ran down the streets to her house.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**MAX P.O.V**

The door opened and closed. It was 7:45 pm. Phoenix.

"PHOENIX IS THAT YOU?" I was so mad.

"Uhh." She looked scared. "Hi Mommy!"

"Don't even pretend to be sweet." I put my hands on my hips and walked towards her. "Where have you been and don't lie."

"I was playing with Fern." She pursed her lips.

"And?"

"And… I was playing with Fern!" She crossed her arms and mimicked my expression.

"You know you have to be home by 5 and if you're staying late, you should tell us. But no you couldn't even be bothered. Do you know how much we sacrificed to stay in hiding?" I leaned down to her level. "If anything every happened to you, I would die. And don't say that nothing is going to happen to you because you never know."

"Well it's not that big of a deal... sheesh."

"Not that big of a deal! You had a human with you too! How could you be so irresponsible!

"She's not—" Phoenix stopped herself. "She's not weak, okay? Besides I could beat anyone."

"Oh don't even think about getting cocky because you still have a lot to learn Phoenix. Tomorrow, you're coming straight after school. No playing with anyone for a week." I decided that was good enough of a punishment.

"What! You can't do that! What am I supposed to do at home?"

"Oh I don't know… homework, spending time with family, learning to fight off the erasers who you so confidently feel you could beat." I replied sarcastically.

"Ughhh you don't even let me do anything!" She stomped her foot and proceeded to sulk as she went to her room.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**PHOENIX P.O.V**

This is _so_ not fair. I couldn't even tell the flock that Fern wasn't human because they'd get all paranoid and think that she was working for the school. Maybe I'll just hang out with her tomorrow for an hour. The flock will never know... I'll just say that I got afterschool detention or something.

I walked over to my backpack and took out some books. I quickly finished the homework and went to the living room to see what was for dinner.

"Iggy, what are we eating?"

"I don't even get a hi any more?" He pretended to look hurt.

I sighed. "Hi Uncle Iggy!" I went over and hugged him as tight as I could. I kept squeezing until he spoke.

Iggy coughed. "Okay okay fine, mashed potatoes, burgers, and ice creammm!" He laughed as I let go. "You know Phoenix, you're becoming really strong."

"Thanks… well Mommy doesn't think so. She thinks I wouldn't be able to defend myself against erasers… can you believe that?"

"Well you have to understand that she's worried about you. What we practice with you here, that isn't real fighting…. Real fighting is when you are put to the test. And when erasers come, I guarantee you're going to react differently."

"So… you don't think I could beat them also."

"No. I'm saying that if you fight the way you do here, you would definitely beat them. But in that moment, you can never know."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**REVIEW! Hope you liked it :) **

**~Harmony**


	21. Kidnappedwait JK Or not?

**HEY GUYS! I'M BACK! Sorry it's been a while... but here's another chapter that's kinda long-ish. I'm altering the upload schedule a little because trying to upload on Wednesday in the middle of the week is really hectic sooo I'm gonna keep wednesday as a sort of bonus day if I get time to write two chapters on Friday. SO basically, I'm uploading on Saturdays. **

**Random Fact: Phoenix's looks are based off of mine... I have really straight black hair with light greyish eyes (Phoenix has blue) but mine are not as pretty as I imagine Phoenix's to be. Having dark hair and really light eyes is genetically rare but it happened.. **

**Anyway, HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER. I stayed up until 2:10 am writing this so it better be appreciated lol jk but really though ;)**

**ALSO IMPORTANT: Let me know if you guys have any suggestion or ideas for what you want to happen next because I read every review and often reply back and sometimes, I get serious writer's block. If you guys gave suggestions on what you want to happen next, that would be awesome. I'm not saying I'll use it every time but I'll use some. :)**

**REVIEW AND COMMENT **

**K THANKS **

**~Harmony (I also changed the cover pic for this story to a picture of me if you want to get an idea of how I got the idea for Phoenix... btw that picture was taken about 3 months ago.)**

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 21:

**MAX P.O.V**

"PHOENIX! Wake up!" I opened the door to her room. She was still sleeping.

_Damn. She needs to be alert at all times. God knows we always were. _

"Phoenix! Up- NOW!" She started to stir a little. I looked around her room. Our entire house (cave) had only rock walls so it definitely got a little chilly but we were used to it from always flying at high altitudes. Her wall was covered in pictures of dark angels (kinda creepy but not judging my kid). On a small nightstand next to her bed was a stack of pictures of the flock and I before she was born and when she was a baby. She always wanted them close to her.

"PHOENIX!" I looked at my watch. 5:32 am. I started to shake her awake.

"Whattttt…" She rubbed her eyes and mumbled at me. "It's like 5:32. Why are you waking me up so early? I still have an hour and fifteen minutes of sleep left."

"No you don't- wait how did you know the time?"

She mumbled something with her eyes half closed. "I don't know I just know."

"Nevermind." I sat on her bed. "From now on, this is your wake up time. You've really been slacking off with training so we're doing morning training _and_ evening."

Suddenly, she was magically awake and shot up. "_What?!" _She looked at me with a face of murder. "That's not fair! You said I couldn't play with Fern, and now I can't even sleep?! I WANT TO SLEEP!" She pouted her lower lip.

"Nope." I stood up. "Outside in 5 min. If you're late, just see what I'll do next." I walked out of her room and closed the door.

'_Well that was a little harsh.' _

_Voice?! Wow long time, no talk. Actually, a REALLY long time, no talk. _

'_Well let's just say I've been busy.' _

_Well so have I, I guess. When you left, Phoenix was only 3 years old. What brings you back to my brain?_

'_What, I can't drop in from time to time?' _

I sighed, already annoyed with the voice.

'_Oh annoyed are we? Well just wanted to say be careful.' _

_Well obviously! Why do you think we're in hiding?! Geez. _

'_You never know. I'm just saying be prepared. And good call on having training today.. she'll need it.' _

_Okayyyyy… can you say creepyyy.._

Well the voice was back to its cryptic comments.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

PHOENIX P.O.V

_Why cant she just let be do what I want?! Ugh I hate mom!_

I walked outside our front door and looked for whoever was teaching me today. No one was there yet so I just lay my head against the rock wall and waited for Daddy or Iggy. I closed my eyes. _Might as well try and get some sleep. _

I listened to the birds chirping and I could see my eyelids glowing red as the sun rose above the mountains. Then, suddenly, it became super quiet. I opened my eyes and stood up.

"Daddy? Iggy?" l looked at the crevice in the mountains that led to the woods. The trees shuffled back and forth as if someone had just ran through them. I contemplated following it. I started to run to the woods. "Who are you?!" I shouted.

I ran as fast as I could towards the trees. I could feel that I was just behind them, but they were faster than me. _Could it be erasers?! _My heart jumped at the thought. _This is my chance to prove to Mommy and Daddy that I can fight them! _

I was running into the woods when suddenly, I realized that the path that the person had been running was not visible anymore. The trees were still and I couldn't follow their movements anymore. I looked around looked for a sign- _crack. Oh no. Someone is behind me. _I tried to pry into their thoughts but there were mind blocks. I took a deep breath and ran. I kept running until I thought I lost them, then I took a steep U-turn and climbed up a tree. I jumped from tree-top to tree-top until I spotted someone. I took aim and pounced on them. They landed face first.

Out of nowhere, I was pulled off of the guy's back and blind folded with my hands tied behind my back. I could hear multiple people shuffling around. "Take it off!" I screamed. "MOMMYYY, DADDYYY!"

"Don't bother yelling. Your family's gone." A gruff voice spoke.

"If you want them back, you have to fight us. Prove yourself."

"HELP! IGGY, ANGEL?" I thrashed my hands and head around trying to get the blindfold off.

"I said you have to FIGHT punk!" I felt him take a step in my direction.

"Fine." I focused on sound. Estimating from the sound people were making, I guess there were 5 people? I heard soft footsteps crinkling the leaves on the ground. The were getting nearer.

When they were just close enough, I jumped in the air and far as I could to the right while kicking them in the process. I shuffled back until I felt a tree. I ripped a loose piece of bark off and started to cut the rope. When it was off, I tried to pry the blindfold off but it would budge.

"Huh- thought you were smart?!"

I furrowed my brow. _I would win this. _"Actually, I kinda thought I would." I put my hands on my hip and walked towards the guy. "I mean from what I know, you sound like an eraser." I could tell I caught him off guard by his slight hesitation.

I used this to my advantage and was about to punch him in the stomach when I was grabbed by my waist and slammed into the ground. My arm was pinned behind my back and I couldn't move. My face was becoming numb from the cold ground and from whoever was pushing my so hard.

Then, all of a sudden, the blind-fold came off. Standing in front of my was the Flock and pinning me down, was Nudge. I, then, realized that this was a set up and the "eraser" was Gazzy.

"This was a set up?!" I was confused. "But why?"

Dad stepped forward. "It was a test… and Phoenix… we aren't trying to discourage you. We only want you to be the best… but today's performance was…."

"…Unsatisfactory." Nudge finished.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Um…." Mom put her hands on her his and shifted the weight on her feet. "It means…"

"It means horrible, Phoenix. You did horrible today." I looked at Angel in surprise. She was always my biggest supporter…

"Well considering that I was basically kidnapped, I'd say I did pretty well!" I defended myself.

"Well considering, that we've actually gotten kidnapped and been through worse, you did pretty bad, Nix." Angel stepped forward and helped me off the ground. "This is what the real world is like. This, is what you're going to have to face- but much worse."

Daddy looked really sad so I walked over to him and hugged him. "I guess I'm the weakest one here after all huh?"

"No, actually you're quite the opposite." Daddy hugged me back and Mom joined in.

"You're probably the most powerful mutant on Earth, but with out you're special powers, you're defenseless." She pulled me close to her. "Understand why we push you?"

I nodded. _If that was a real eraser attack, I'd be dead. Mommy's right. Without my special powers, my fighting isn't good enough. _

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

PHOENIX P.O.V

I had just finished telling Fern what happened this morning when the teacher walked over to our table.

"Anything you'd like to share with us Phoenix?" She crossed her arms with a stern face and the whole class was staring at us.

I smiled as sweetly as I could. I narrowed my eyes and stared at her as long as I could to make her feel uncomfortable. "Nope." She shifted her arms and walked away.

Fern giggled next to me. "I could almost feel the chills go down her spine. She was really freaked out."

I smiled back at Fern. "I take that as a compliment. _Thank you." _

Finally, It was lunchtime and Fern and I were walking to the cafeteria. We were just talking about a project that we were just assigned when I noticed the whole lunchroom was looking at us.

Fern whispered to me. "What's going on?"

"I don't know… lets ask." I started to walk to a random table.

"What! No! You can't just do that!" Fern grabbed my arm.

"Why not? We want to know what's wrong... and they know."

"Wait! Phoenix, you can't do that!" She reached out to grab me again but I was already walked towards a table. Unfortunately, that happened to be the 6th graders- the oldest kids at our school.

I slammed my hand down and everyone flinched. "What's the deal?"

"Excuse me?" I blonde girl flipped her hair and cocked an eyebrow.

I bored my eyes into hers. I gently shoved the thought into her head.

"It's Fern." She pointed to her standing beside me. "She's a freak."

"Yeah well so am I apparently... so?"

"Um she's a foster kid... DUH... her brother said that she was in the system cause she murdered someone…"

I almost laughed at that. _That's it… seriously?_ _If they knew the things I did. _"And you believe it because?"

"Hey what's the deal with the interrogation? We're fifth graders, you and your little psycho friend are _little kids _who can't even go to town with out their parents so why don't you just leave us alone!" She shoved me away from the table.

_Oh no she didn't. _"Don't touch me." I lowered my voice.

She laughed with her friends. "Aw isn't that cute? She has a temper problem." She flipped her hair.

I lunged towards her as the cafeteria was yelling "Fight, fight, fight!" \

"Oh you don't want to mess with me freak, I do karate."

"Then come and fight me." I glowered my eyes at her and I could feel my eyes turning hot.

"Phoenix no!" Fern exclaimed at me.

I ignored her. The girl rolled up her sleeves and stood in a fighting stance.

"You asked for it freak." She stated to punch me but then stopped when she realized I was behind her. "Woah what?"

I smirked and suddenly felt an intense feeling of adrenaline. I _needed _to hurt her. I _needed _to prove myself.

I lunged at her and knocked her head first into the ground. Kicked at me but I was too strong. I pinned her down just like Nudge had done to me this morning.

I leaned down to her ear. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stop calling me freak. Oh and if I were you, I'd call and get your karate instructor and get your money back."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

PHOENIX P.O.V

So I got detention. And sadly, I got Fern in trouble too. But luckily, she wasn't mad.

"Hey what do you want to do now?" I skipped with Fern as we walked behind the school.

"Didn't your mom say you weren't allowed to play after school?"

"Yeah but who cares." I felt like I was on a high. "Lets go to the waterfall like last time! Race you!" Before Fern could protest, I was in the air shooting for the waterfall.

It didn't take long for Fern to cave in and before long; she was soaring right next to me. We both circled down and when we were low enough we tucked our wings in and dropped into the deepest part of the pond.

"Want to see who can hold their breath underwater the longest?" Fern asked me.

"I would win. I have gills." I laughed sheepishly. "It's a mutation that was passed on."

"So you're a fish freak too." Fern mockingly put her hands on her chest and laughed. "Well do it the _human_ way and we'll see who wins."

"Well I can definitely control that…" I took a huge breath… 1…2..3… go!

We both dunked our heads underwater and opened our eyes. Fern was making funny faces to make me laugh and lose. I was doing the same thing so that she would laugh an go up for air. It was so funny that my sides hurt from not being able to laugh. I wanted to swallow in water and use my gills but I promised Fern.

Then, all of a sudden, I saw Fern's eyes go wide with fear. I looked confused, and then I realized there was a furry hand keeping her underwater. Not two seconds later, another hand dunked my head even further, preventing me from swimming up. They pulled me above, snarling…. but kept Fern under.

I heard a snarl. "Six years and we finally got you little birdie."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**REVIEW AND COMMENT. Give suggestions on the plot :) **

**~Harmony ****(I also changed the cover pic for this story to a picture of me if you want to get an idea of how I got the idea for Phoenix... btw that picture was taken about 3 months ago.)**


	22. Family Bonding

**A/N: Sup. So last chapter, I told you guys that you can send me suggestions about the plot and what you want to happen. So thank you to** "**Dovahkiin101" for sending me your suggestion :) I used it and came up with this chapter... Thank you! **

**So if you have any suggestions, please let me know :) **

**BTW: Phoenix is James Patterson's character but I gave her the powers, and Fern and her powers are my idea :) **

**REVIEW PLEASE.**

**~Harmony **

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 22

I was forcibly whipped around to a furry looking creature that looked like wolf with plastic surgery gone wrong… like _really_ wrong. Its teeth were barring at me and it snarled in my face. I gasped with a shaky breath.

"Eraser."

"Ahhh we finally get to meet." The eraser held me up by my neck and I could feel its nails digging in.

"Let my friend up! She's going to die!"

"Precisely." The eraser prolonged his answer to taunt me. "Well in my opinion, the offspring of two extremely successful hybrids is much more valuable than a rouge mutant who ran away isn't it?"

Why wasn't I getting mad? I couldn't feel the heat in my body anymore. Instead, it was ice cold with fear.

"Aww little birdie too scared to speak?" The eraser punched me in the stomach and flung me up in the air. I attempted to whip out my wings but the eraser had attached wings and was up in the air with me. _They're not just erasers! They're the flyboys that Gazzy always talks about! _

I gathered up my courage. "Let my friend up or I'll kill you."

The eraser was shaking with laughter. "You- You? A 6 year old… threatening _me?" _

I focused on frying the giant puffball of an eraser. I felt the heat entering my eyes. I kicking him in the groin and he fell a couple of feet.

"Why you little-"

"Don't hurt my friends or I'll hurt you." I opened my eyes as everything glazed over in a red hue. I felt his body heat up as he was screaming. When he let go of me, I dived into the pond and looked for Fern.

_Swallow, open. Swallow open. _I tried to use my gills so I could focus on saving Fern. I found her under the hold of another eraser. She looked so fragile and limp under the huge eraser hands.

_Come on Fern wake up! _I burnt the erasers hand and Fern started to sink to the bottom. I held her shoulders and swam up as fast as I could. I opened my wings underwater and kicked as hard as I could. When I was at the surface, I flew into the air and water droplets scattered below me. Fern and I were the same size so she was really heavy for me to carry.

I flew to a nearby clearing and looked around. I could feel tears running down my face. "Please! Fern…. Wake up!" I put my mouth on hers and did CPR. Her lips and hands were blue and she was unconscious. I blew air into her body. She started to move and sputter out water… then, finally, she opened her eyes.

"Fern! Are you okay?"

She started coughing violently as she pointed to something behind me. "Er- Eraser… _run_." She held her stomach as she coughed.

"No, I can't leave you!" I tried to get her to stand up.

"GO! I'll…get... Parents…" She crawled over to a tree with her back to the trunk. She wrapped two vines around her waist. "Phoenix." She threw up onto the ground. "GO!"

She leaned her head against the trunk and closed her eyes. The vines started to move and wrap around her to camouflage. Just as the last vine about to cover her face, she stopped it and looked at me. "Be safe." Soon, all I could see was a trunk covered in vines. You'd ever know there was a girl under there, hiding.

"Don't worry." I looked back as I ran. "I'll come back for you."

I flew up into the air and headed for our cave to tell my parents that I needed help- when I heard a deep growl. I turned around sharply.

"You'll pay for what you did!" I was in a fighting stance.

The eraser flew at me, barreling me into empty air. I punched him in the face. He grabbed my wings and pinched them together. I screamed in pain. I kicked my legs back and he loosened his grip on me. Then, he grabbed me with his hands and his claws sprung out. My wings were in pain and I had twisted my ankle. I tried to flap but he caught hold of my wings again.

"Now, now…" He traced the edge of my face with his claws.

I tried to force the heat into my body but I was in too much pain to focus.

He smiled sickly at me. "What to do with a broken feather?" Then his face brightened up. "Of course, your fate has already been decided." He took a tranquilizer gun out of his pocket.

"No please! Don't! I want to see my mom!" I was struggling to get free. My whole face was wet because of the tears.

"Oh don't struggle…" He jabbed the gun in to my arm. "It'll only take a second."

"No… please… don't…" I was slowly starting to black out. The last thing I saw was another eraser stuffing me into a bag.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

MAX P.O.V

"Shouldn't Phoenix be home by now?" I was sitting next to Fang with my head on his shoulder. He was rubbing circles on my back like always.

"The school called and said she got detention so they said she'll be coming home an hour late." I rolled my eyes. "She can never stay out of trouble can she?"

Fang looked down at me and smiled. "Well then we know she's exactly like you." He leaned forward to kiss me. My lips smashed into his and I forgot to control myself. Soon, we were in our bedroom with his shirt off.

"Remember that time when we were too stupid to admit that we were crazy about each other?" He mumbled.

I giggled. "Yeah how stupid were we."

"Very." He smiled and got up off the bed.

We walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Nudge and Angel had just come back from their job. They worked at a shop that gave makeovers to little kids for parties and such. It's such a perfect job for them. Iggy and Gazzy worked in an electrical shop while training Phoenix on the side. Fang was a bartender, and as for me- being a mom and the leader is a full time job.

Iggy was teaching Gazzy how to make some kind of explosive cake in the kitchen, and Angel was reading a book in her corner. Nudge was talking on the phone with her boss about an upcoming birthday party to do makeovers for.

"Isn't anyone going to get that?" Angel asked. My cell phone had been ringing for about a minute now.

I ran to the phone and picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Maxine Ride?"

"It's—Whatever- yes it is... why?"

"This is regarding Phoenix and her friend Fern. They have been dismissed over 45 minutes ago and Fern parents have just called and informed us that she has not returned home. It's often observed that Phoenix and Fern walk home together. Has Phoenix arrived yet?"

My hand was shaking. "Um. No. She hasn't arrived yet. I'll go out and look for them." The lady gave some instructions on reporting a person missing but I wasn't paying attention. "Thank you." I put the phone down.

The entire flock was waiting to hear what that was about. "The erasers. They got to Phoenix. She's _missing_. With her friend."

"How do you know?"

"She was supposed to be back 45 minutes ago and Fern's parents called and said that she was missing." I took a breath and tried to compose myself.

"But we aren't sure that its erasers right?" Nudge piped in. "Let's just think a second—"

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _

We all turned our heads towards the door. Know one knew where we lived and the whole flock was here.

"Mind blocks." Angel looked scared. "I can't read their mind."

Fang breathed out shakily. He walked over to the door. He raised his eyebrow, questioning us if we're ready.

I looked around and everyone was in fighting stances. I nodded. "Ready."

He opened the door and we were all ready to punch the living day lights out of whatever the school sent to kill us. Instead, we saw a little girl.

She was barley able to stand up and she looked like she had just been beaten to death. She had pale skin with piercing green eyes. There were claw marks on the side of her face and her hair was a mess. There was a dark red liquid seeping down her head- blood.

Her head was down and she was mumbling something. Fang leaned closer.

"Me… and Phoenix…." The girl panted and wiped her hand across her blue lips. She coughed up some water. "… Attack... Erasers... the School…" She stumbled onto Fang. "Nix… not safe." She coughed and sputtered some more water. She looked up at me. "Save her." And then she collapsed.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Max, they took Phoenix to the school?!" Iggy was in hysterics. He was intensely cutting carrots, and almost cut his fingers off. "We have to go rescue her!" He slammed the knife on the counter. "Now!"

"Max can we go? We _have _to go!" Gazzy pleaded at me.

"Guys, I want to go save her probably more than you but we have to wait for Fern to wake up!" I had Fern on my lap and Angel was healing her with some medicine of some sort. I shifted Fern to the couch and walked over to Nudge who was typing something up on her computer.

Nudge exclaimed, "Look, I hacked into the school's database and records!"

"Let me see." Fang grabbed the laptop and started to look through the files.

"Do you know what any of that means, Fang?" Nudge looked pissed.

"No."

"Then give it back to me." Nudge glared at him.

"Guys, guys! No fighting… We _have_ to find Phoenix. And we _will _save her." I turned to Nudge. "Nudge, search for Phoenix and see of anything attached to her name shows up."

"Got it." She typed some code and a list of files popped up. "It's just the standard stuff that we always see. Wait- here's something." She furrowed her eyebrow. "Oh no… no, no, no! This can't be happening." Her eyes filled with worry.

"What? What is it?" Fang lifted his head from out of his hands.

"It said she's expected to arrive in the EEHPU."

Iggy gasped and dropped the knife.

She looked at the flock. "They're sending her to the death unit."

The EEHPU was the Extensive Experimental Hybrid Procedure Unit or what we call it- the death unit. Hybrids only go there if they were going to be experimented on and more often than not, they died in there. Iggy was one of the few who survived… and he became blind.

Fang sat on the couch with his head in his hands. It's been a long time since I've acted like a leader. _It's time to step up and relive your past. _"Okay guys, here's what we're going to do. Fang, Nudge, Iggy and I will go to the school. Gazzy, and Angel, I need you guys to stay here and take care of Fern."

"What?!" Gazzy retorted. "I am NOT staying here! I want to go with you guys!"

"Me too, Max! We can't just stay here!" Angel joined in.

"Someone has to take care of Fern!" I reasoned.

"We can take her to a hospital!" Angel crossed her arms.

"No you can't." Fern was awake. She sat up. Her face had some more color in it and her eyes were bright green again. The blue in her lips had almost faded away. "You can't take me to a hospital or to my parents."

I walked to the couch. "You need to be taken care of properly, Fern."

"No you don't understand. I want to go with you guys. I want to save Phoenix." She took a breath. "Look, Phoenix was going to tell you soon but I'm not human either. I broke out of the school with my sister and then she got killed and someone found me and I got put in the foster system. I got out of the school 3 years ago and I know what they do there."

I was speechless. "I- I don't know what to say."

"You can say yes." Fern looked at me pleading.

I looked at Gazzy and Angel. "Alright. Everyone is going. Nudge, print out a layout of the school, Angel, dress Fern's wounds, Fang, get everyone's backpacks ready, Iggy, pack food, and Gazzy- weapons."

I went to Phoenix's room to get her backpack that was under the bed. Like I said, we always tried to be prepared. We each had an extra backpack ready to go under our beds. I replaced the water bottle with another one and threw in a jacket. I met everyone in the living room.

"Ready?" I walked over the Fern. "Are you sure you're okay? How will you—"

"Fly. I can fly." She looked up at me. Fern was so much like Phoenix.

"Alright then." We all walked out to the mountains. The sun was already going down.

Fern whispered. "We're coming for you Phoenix. Just hang in there."

I smiled and squeezed Fang's hand. "Three." We all jumped into the air and soared into the sunset sky.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

PHOENIX P.O.V.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _I slowly opened my eyes. _Where was I? _I could hear muffled talking.

"Its vitals are good. I think we should do the procedure today."

"No. She just got here today! She'll be reluctant! We have to wait until tomorrow. Don't you remember her mother? I heard she takes after her."

"But-"

"No buts. I am you boss. You will obey me. After all, I have the connection with these mutants."

_What? A connection? What are they going to do to me? _I tried to move but my hands and legs were restrained with an IV dripping into my arm. It was completely dark except for one small light bulb above me. I could hear the door start to open. And a man with a round face and glasses appeared in front of me.

"Hello Phoenix. How are you feeling?" He smiled at me.

"Pretty bad considering I CAN'T MOVE!" I glowered my eyes at him.

"Hm. I sense you're just as uncooperative as your mother was. Luckily, times have changed and you don't really have a say in what we do to you."

Suddenly, I realized that I recognized this man. The flock would always tell me stories about him. Jeb…. Jeb Batchelder, the man who betrayed the flock.

"LET ME GO!" I screamed as loud as I could. Jeb flinched.

"We won't have any problems if you listen. I won't hurt you."

"Liar!" The lights flickered off and on. "You hurt the flock!" I was starting to have a panic attack. "I want to go home… I want my family!" I was having hard time breathing.

Jeb chuckled. "Didn't expect Max to raise such a wimp of a kid." He shook his head. "But that will change here. We're going to remold you."

I was shaking from crying and yelling. "I want to go home! I want my family!"

Jeb leaned closer to me and caressed my face. "Oh but honey, you are with family…. Say hello to your grandfather." He smiled viciously as he uncapped a syringe with black liquid in it. He injected me with the liquid as I struggled away from his grasp.

I could feel my eyelids shutting. The last thing I heard: "Welcome home sweetheart… it's family bonding time."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**OH SNAP. Cliffhanger. **

**Hope you enjoyed that ;) REVIEW.**

**~Harmony **


	23. Neona: Bird of the Moon

**Hey guys! This is an extremely important and also one of my favorite chapters :) Keep reading to find out. **

**Random Fact: (This is future me writing this back in as an edit) I was in the airport when I posted this chapter because I'm visiting my parents and my brother (Ori) As you can probably tell, my parents are hippies honestly... I mean they named me Harmony and my brother Orion sooo... yeah. LOL. But yeah like I said, I go to a strict dance school and we had break for a week and a half so I decided to visit my parents because it's freaking cold in Russia right now and I could use some of the sun. So right now, I'm in my parents house in India (YAY). Also this creepy dude sat next to me on my first flight and got me sick. meh. **

**Anyway, here's the chapter :) (Also I just realized how close Ori and Ari are lol awkward)**

**REVIEW! :) **

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 23**

**MAX P.O.V**

"Maxxx, are we there yet?" Gazzy whined.

I sighed. "No Gazzy, we aren't there yet."

I looked over at Iggy and realized he had been quiet since we left. I switched positions with Fang so that he was the tip of the 'V'.

"Hey." Iggy lifted his head. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing." He looked worried. "What if something happens to Phoenix?"

"I know this is scary… and you have no idea how much I just want to break down and cry but as a leader, if I break down, so will everyone else." I fidgeted with my backpack strap. "We just have to hope for the best."

"You know Phoenix is the best thing to ever happen to this Flock."

I was taken off guard. "What?"

"Think about it. Before, I was just the blind guy who built bombs with an 8 year old. After Phoenix was born, it's like I had a new purpose in life. I take care of Phoenix when you or Fang can't, I teach her how to combat, I play with her in my free time, and she calls me Uncle Iggy."

"I know she loves you… she really does. But we have to be strong for the others. The school won't harm her so soon. We know that."

"It's not _that_ I'm worried about." Iggy looked into my eyes. "She's never experienced anything like that before. She hasn't even been locked in a cage. Anything they do to her will be doing harm."

"Yeah she wasn't brought up in that environment like us." Fang chimed in. "We were able to tolerate it. I don't think she can."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**PHOENIX P.O.V.**

"STOP!" I had tears going down my face. If there was such a thing as hell, it would be the school.

"Use your powers you idiot!" Jeb yelled at me through a microphone. We were in a large arena that looked like a field. They had at least fifty erasers in a circle around me… with guns. My job was to dodge bullets. I don't know about you but there are a LOT of less violent, less scary scenarios that might NOT kill you, to test reflexes.

"I can't!" I already had 2 bullet holes. I was fending of well for the first ten minuets…then they threw in another eraser for me to _fight_… while dodging bullets. I was bleeding everywhere and was in too much pain to centralize my heat.

"FOCUS PHOENIX. Or we'll throw you in the pit again!" Jeb's voice rang loud through the speakers.

_No please. No! Not that dreaded black hole again. _I tried to focus the heat.

"Ugh!" I only saw a spark on my hands. _Get out of here. Get out of here. _I grabbed the erasers wrist and twisted his arm hard. I punched his face and flipped over him and to kick him in the back. He fell face first. I won. I was on top of him. The ball was in my court now. It was all in my control.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt a shift in me. I heard the bullets stop shooting. I focused my energy as I stared right into the dirt. The fire inside me got bigger and bigger until I felt like I was about to explode. The fire spread from my arms to all the way around the eraser and I in a perfect circle, with just a small space along the edge.

I heard a sickening laugh. "Good job Phoenix… guess you won't be visiting the pit today."

The door to the arena opened and in walked Jeb with his team of 20 scientists who were observing.

"You can die the fire down you know. The test is over. We need to attend to the eraser." Jeb walked forward with a clipboard.

I didn't hear him though. I wanted to pummel the eraser. I couldn't control myself.

I kept punching the eraser over and over. His blood was spurting everywhere and I was covered in his blood more than I was my own. I kicked him engulfed him in flames. I kept punching his burning body as Jeb was telling me to stop.

"Erasers, detain her!"

The 50 other erasers charged forward. I increased the fire even more. It created a dome, covering me. Even the fire extinguishers didn't to anything. I was too powerful. I glared at the team with my glowing red eyes.

"You touch me again… and I hurt you." I smiled viciously.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**MAX P.O.V**

"Max, we still have about 6 hours to go." Fang spoke up.

I grinded my teeth, "We should keep going if we want to find Phoenix."

Fang looked at me with sympathetic eyes. "We need to stop… for the kids."

I surveyed the rest of the flock. They were clearly exhausted and I couldn't loose more members. "Alright. Lets go down."

We were somewhere near the border of Texas and New Mexico so halfway there. We landed in a run down hotel.

"One room please." I decided that it would be best if we all stayed in one room so I can keep an eye on everyone.

After we got in the room, we all showered and everyone except for Fang and I went to eat something.

Fang finished buttoning his shirt and walked over the bed to sit down. He pulled out a picture of Phoenix from his pocket and showed me. It was the first time she ever flew. Her little black wings with snowy white tips were spread out and her hair framed her face perfectly. She was on a cliff looking into the sky as her eyes lit up and her mouth was in a "O".

"You know I don't show emotion often…." Fang took my hand. "… but right now, I'm terrified of what they're doing to her."

"I know." I put my head on his shoulder and he rubbed circles on my back. "It's like when Angel was kidnapped all over again."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**PHOENIX P.O.V.**

After I showed that I couldn't control myself, I collapsed and they put me in detainment. My entire body was a strapped but I wasn't scared… not the least. I was exhilarated. I felt my entire personality change in that moment. I wasn't Phoenix, Max and Fang's child anymore. I was Phoenix the Sun Warrior.

I was breathing hard for no apparent reason. I slowed my breathing and looked at my surroundings. I thought I heard someone walking down the hallway. I strained my ear.

"This room?" Hmm. A new voice.

"Yes. This specimen is our most successful." Jeb's voice. "I think you could be of great help to us in controlling her."

"Her? You mean it?"

"She prefers not to be objectified."

The new guy scoffed. "Oh how does it matter."

"She's not called the killing machine for no reason." Jeb cautioned. "She's more dangerous than anyone even imagined."

"Hm. Well, I'm sure I've worked with worse. I'll see what I can do."

The door opened and the new guy walked in. He was wearing a lab coat and looked like Daddy's age.

"Hello little girl." He flashed a toothy smile at me.

I focused on reading his thoughts. '_I'll just see how she responds. Hopefully, I won't need to use the Taser.' _

I repositioned my face with an innocent look. "Hi!" I smiled cutely at him. "What's your name?" I could almost see the surprise on Jeb's face behind the door.

"My name is Jake." He started undoing to straps around my arms. "What's yours?"

"My name is Phoenix." I looked up at him with big eyes as I jumped down off of the slab I was strapped to. "Do you think I can go home now?"

He laughed cautiously. "Oh honey, you won't be going home anytime soon." He patted my head and took my hand. Then, he walked me to a table and sat me down. "Want a lollipop?" My mouth watered at candy. I quickly unwrapped it and started licking it.

"So, Phoenix, tell me about your powers." He cupped his face in his hands.

"Sure!" I bored my eyes into his. "I can read your thoughts, breath underwater, and I can control fire… but its not very developed yet."

"Oh wow! Well aren't you the cutest little thing." He smiled at me. "I'm here to help you control you powers… do you think you could work with me?"

"I don't know… I might kill you."

"Um... I can ensure you... that won't happen."

_Don't underestimate me Jake. Don't you dare underestimate me. _

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**PHOENIX P.O.V**

They stuffed me into a cage. I don't know how many hours I've been here now but it feels like I've been here for over a week. I was trying to get the Jake guy to trust me so he'll let his guard down.

"Hey." A girl's voice spoke out.

My heart jumped into my throat. "Who's there?" I tried to look through the bars of the cage at who was speaking.

"Neona… but I go by Neo." It was silent after that.

"I'm Phoenix but sometimes, I go by Nix."

"So you're her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone knows who you are. They've been searching for you _forever_ and then suddenly, they capture you and you turn out to be a killing machine… like.."

"Like who?"

"Like… me."

"And who exactly are you?" I was skeptical of this girl.

"Neona. You are known as the bird of the sun. And I am the bird of the moon. We're born from the same mother. I'm your sister."

I couldn't believe my ears. "What?" I tried to peer further into the darkness. "You can't be my sister. I'm an only child."

"Believe it or not, it's true. We're twins. The only difference is that you were born with a family, but I was born here…. I'd hardly call this family."

"But how do you know… and how come I never knew…"

"Nobody knew." She sighed. "I was a test-tube baby. You were born from my mother's stomach. This is all part of their experiment. They want to test who would raise a better fighter: Maximum Ride or the school."

I scoffed. "I can't believe this. I hate them so much!" I started to control my breathing. "This is not fair! It's not fair that you were stuck here for 6 years of your life! They can't do this!"

"Yes they can. It's _all_ they do." She cleared her throat. "I knew you're entire family existed but I never got to look at you. I wish I had a family like you."

"If what you're saying is true, that you really are my sister, then you do have a family. My entire flock is coming to break us out… and you'll finally be free."

"It's not that simple." Neona protested.

"Hold on." I illuminated the room with a simple fire in the middle of the room. "There. Now I can see you."

The girl was in the cage directly across from me. Even with the bars in the way, there was no doubt that she was my sister. She was identical to me.. as if I was looking into a mirror.

She gasped. "Phoenix Ride." Her eyes widened in awe.

"Neona… we look… the _same_." I examined her closer. "…But our eyes are different... how is that possible?"

Ever since using my power more often, the red flecks in my eyes had become more prominent but they were still light icy blue. But hers were flecked with deep, ocean blue, which made the icy blue look even more menacing than mine.

"Wow… never thought I'd live to see my sister… ever." She breathed out. "Our eyes... they reflect our personalities."

"What do you mean?"

"Yours are speckled with red…anger and uncontrolled nature. Mine are speckled with blue…serene and cunning. You give a quick painful death out of anger. I, on the other hand, control my power. I give a slow, painful, agonizing death." She stared at me. "Funny how it is."

Then, a sharp pain pierced my skull. My eyes glazed over and I could see my flock. They were in a hotel. They were discussing about me. They were coming. Just as quickly as the picture came, it left again.

Neona was looking at me with worried eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I- I don't know what that was… I'm fine… I think."

"Don't be alarmed. I get them too. It's how I know what your flock looks like. But the strange thing is… I was never able to see you."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**NEONA P.O.V**

Phoenix was exactly like I'd imagined. She was even better than I imagined. _I finally get to meet the sister that I never had. _

"You said your flock is coming…. But it won't be easy to break in. I hope they know that."

"Oh they do…. At least I hope they do…" Phoenix looked down at her hands. She focused on the fire to make it bigger so the entire room was lit.

"I sense that you're scared." I was very naturally intuitive to emotions…. But weirdly, I couldn't read her mind. It was like it was clouded or something.

Phoenix set her jaw. "How can you tell."

"Because I know."

"Something is wrong with me. I feel like I shift into a completely different person sometimes. I can't control my powers and it's scary."

"Don't dwell on what happened. Think about what you can do to fix it. You _can _control your powers if you really try."

She cupped her face in her hands. "I just want to go home… I can't do this anymore… I thought I was strong but I'm weak… I'm even weaker than the dumb whitecoats." She started to cry.

"Stop crying." _Why was she crying? Her flock was coming… what was the problem? _"I've wanted to meet you for a long time. Everyone described you as strong… and I believe that too. But you have to believe in yourself. I think your fear is holding you back."

"It is. But I don't know how to stop. I was sure this would never happen to me. I thought beating erasers would be so easy. I can't do this anymore." Her eyes started to well up with tears. "If I make a mistake, I could die here. I almost -"

"-Phoenix." I made her look at me. "If you're afraid to make a mistake… then you've already made one."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**NEONA IS MY FAVE. She's so badass. She's kind of speaks like Luna from Harry Potter... she's kind of the opposite of Phoenix. In a way, she reflects Fang, like how Phoenix reflects Max (with the hot headedness and all). If you haven't guessed already, Neona means moon. **

**Review and let me know if you liked this chapter :) **


	24. Out Out

**A/N: Hey guys... I have a chapter written already and it's Wednesday so why not post it? **

**Also I really wish they made a Maximum ride movie... they said that they would make one for I kid you not, four years now. Their excuse was that the production costs would be too high for the level of animation needed and they said it would be extremely difficult. I'm sorry I just watched Maleficent... and the wings looked pretty realistic to me. MR movie directors get on this. **

**Sorry for the rant lol.**

**Enjoy this chapter :) Can't believe I'm already on chapter 24! **

**~Harmony**

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 24

NEONA P.O.V

It was almost sunrise… Why isn't Phoenix waking up?

I rattled the cage and whispered. "Phoenix. Wake up!"

"Mhmm what?" She murmured.

"How can you even sleep in a cage? It's so uncomfortable. I wouldn't expect you to sleep comfortably… after all, this isn't your 'norm'."

"Well we basically sleep on rocks so I can really sleep wherever."

_I'd thought she'd have a comfy bed or whatever. _"Never mind. If your flock is coming, you need to be prepared."

"Why do you keep saying 'you'?" She finally opened her eyes. "Aren't you coming too?"

"Hope so… but I'm prepared. Unlike you… no offense."

"None taken. Clearly, I'm a little rusty." Phoenix looked embarrassed.

I reasoned with her. "Not rusty. You just don't have control."

"Can you teach me?" She looked with hopeful eyes.

"No." She looked disappointed. "It's something you learn yourself. But I can guide you."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

PHOENIX P.O.V

She was going to teach me how to control my powers. Who a better teacher than someone who has similar powers!

Neona spoke up again. "But to be honest, I had guidance too." She reached into the drab hospital looking outfits they made us wear. She was wearing a white crystal… it was mesmerizing. "It helps me keep in control."

"Do you think I could find one?" I asked. I lowered my voice because I thought I heard whitecoats walking down the hallway.

"No. It'll find you when you're in need." She adjusted in her cage. "It found me when I was in the arena. The whitecoats let me wear because they know I'll kill them without it."

"But it only stops you when you're out of control. That means you can still kill them even with it on!" I lowered my voice even more.

Neona spoke so soft I could barley hear it. "Exactly."

"Good morning mutants! Well a good morning for me but I guess it would be less than any other day for you… Lets see… a new day of testing, a new specimen!" It was another white coat. "How about Phoenix!"

"Oh gee like I have a choice right?" I said sarcastically.

He unlocked my cage and walked me out. I was still limping from the bullet wounds. One was in my shoulder and the other was in my leg. They both hurt and throbbed like crazy. He walked me out the door with handcuffs on my wrists. I met Neona's eyes as I passed by her cage.

"Do by any chance think you could… oh I don't know… address the bullet wounds that are gushing blood?!" I asked annoyingly.

"Oh don't think we forgot about your well being now…" He grinned at me and shoved me into a room, making me stumble.

The strapped me to a table and fixed my wounds. Then they dumped me in the arena again. This time, the wanted me to run as many times, back and forth, as I could until I basically died. Now I'd say I had pretty good stamina but what motivated me was the laser heaters under my feet. They would zap them every time I slowed down. After that dreaded time, I was stuck back into the cage.

"You're lucky." Neona remarked. "They're going easy on you."

"You call this easy?!" I was so thirsty that my throat was clenching. "This is torture!"

"They've done worse to me." Neona's voice sounded awfully monotone… as if the memory was too painful to talk about.

"Oh Sorry… I'm sure what they've done is worse... It's just that this is all too new to me. I don't know how you did it for so many years."

"Neither do I, Phoenix. Neither do I."

Suddenly, another whitecoat came in and unlocked Neo's cage. Then, he unlocked mine and we both walked together to another arena. We were both positioned across from each other. They wanted a fight as the ultimate test of training. Mine… or Max's.

I was in fighting stance right across from her. I can't fight my sister! "I can't do this!"

Neona looked at me with a frightening look. "If we don't do this, they'll both kill us."

"Fine." I was in fighting stance again. God she looked exactly the same as me. Same height, face and everything.

"Begin!" The loud speaker boomed.

I was immediately on defense. Neona closed her eyes and took a breath.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

PHOENIX P.O.V.

My body hurt so badly. Neona beat me up pretty bad but I could handle it. I gave her a few bruises myself.

"Sorry." I lit up a fire.

"If you want to be strong, never say sorry."

"Oh then I'm not sorry?"

She smirked. "If we didn't beat each other up, we'd be dead anyway." She touched the bruise on her shoulder. "So don't say sorry for trying to survive. I was too."

"Wow it's pretty cut throat here then."

"Yeah it's a torture chamber." She then lifted her head quickly. "I think they're planning something big. I think they have a master plan to do something."

"What do you think they're going to do?" This was interesting… what was all this leading to?

Her eyes lit up like she was putting together a puzzle. "I mean think about it. What is the point of creating hybrids and making us fight? We're experiments. Every experiment has a purpose."

Then I remembered something that Mom told me. "… and the government can't even fund the school because its unethical so there has to be some big company funding the whitecoats!"

Neona raised her eyebrows in realization. "I know what they're doing and it's not good. Not good at all."

"What are they planning to do?"

"They're building a military force of mutants. And we're going to be the leaders. We're the killing machines."

"But… but _why_?"

"Have you ever wondered why all the people they bring into the school for experiments are poor? They're using the impoverished community because they know it'll create less chaos. They're kidnapping the children and training them."

"But what are they going to _do _with them?"

"I don't know. But they want to take over something…. the company they work for, the state, country, world… I don't know."

"But _we _didn't come from the impoverished did we? Mom said that when they were in the school, Jeb would always be nice to them and then took them away to a house to live in peace. And they we're definitely not poor then."

"We're special cases Phoenix."

"Why?" I then realized something. "Because we're related to Jeb."

"What?" Neona looked confused. "What do you mean _related _to Jeb?"

"Right before he put me to sleep, he said that he was my grandfather - "

Neona raised her voice. "-which means he's Mom—I mean Max's father!"

"That's horrible… he put his own daughter in the school and then whisked her away just to abandon her again."

"Phoenix, how do you know this is even true? We both know that the school specializes in manipulation."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

MAX P.O.V

"Fang! We're here!" I squeezed Fang's hand.

We had landed about an hour ago and began walking through a complex until we reached the end of the city. As far as we can see, there was dusty, brown desert. Most people wouldn't be able to see anything but with our vision, we could make out the camouflaged outline of the school. Half of it was above ground and half was under. It was dusty brown like the desert.

"Lets go, Lets go, Lets go!" Gazzy was jumping up and down.

"In a minute Gazzy." Fang brought him closer. "We have to think of a plan first."

I spoke up. "Okay guys… Every year, they have internships Nudge hacked the front system and added our names to the list. They should let us in at the beginning. Here I printed these badges out on our last stop. When we get in, Angel, I want you to make the receptionist look for Phoenix's name and what room she's in. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Then, Fang spoke up. "We can do this okay?" He put his hand in and smiled at me.

"Flock!" We all silently yelled and looked around to make sure we were alone. We flew up into the air and surveyed the area.

"There's a security camera on the roof! It's pointing the other way but it'll rotate!" Angel yelled.

"Land!" I immediately aimed to the ground. We made it before the camera turned around. We started walking to the entrance of the school.

"Never thought I'd have to come back so soon." Fern shuddered.

"We got this Fern." Nudge hugged Fern. "Think of Phoenix."

We reached he entrance and the two security guards were already on alert.

"We're interns." I smiled at them. "Our names are on the list." They looked on their wrist and a watch like structure was imbedded into the surface. They were cyborg hybrids.

"Access granted." The security guards spoke in a monotone voice and separated, revealing the door.

Once we were inside, we walked down the hallway looking as casually as possible. We looked around. This looked like a normal hospital? _Was this the school's disguise?_ We walked around until we saw a hallway was relatively dark and grungy looking. _Bingo. _

"Over here guys." I mentioned everyone to follow me. We finally reached a door that led underground.

"Hey! Stop! This is restricted area!" A whitecoat was running behind us. Fern turned around and kicked her in the chin. She fell to the floor and hit her head hard.

"Nice one, Fern." Then I realized she was almost dead but she had to alert everyone in the building before she died. The security alarm went off. "Come on! We have to hurry!"

I ran through the door and grunted as I pushed a heavy metal door. We burst through it and ran down the hallway. We were officially in the school Ah the sweet scent of antiseptic and blood.

"Haha look who we have here." There were erasers lining the walls. "A birdie and her flock… Never thought I'd see you ever _Max._"

I gasped. "Ari." I caught my breath. "I thought you were dead."

"Well clearly, I'm not." He smirked. "Oh come on, I thought you'd be a little happier…"

"Well clearly, _I'm_ not." I ran forward and punched him in the face. The rest of my flock was already fighting the erasers throughout the hallway. Ari kicked me in the chest and I fell on the floor. He pressed his weight against me but I fought. I tried to lift in above me. Then, Fang pulled him up and kicked him in the back so he fell face down. I quickly got up and helped Fang finish off Ari. I went to the next eraser and we went down the hallway until we reached the door.

We opened the door and a wave of cold air blasted us. I looked around. It was extremely dim and it was another set of hallways. Except this time, the rooms were numbered and some were padlocked. Suddenly, we heard banging coming from a room at the end of the hallway.

"Phoenix!" I yelled. "Is that you?" I could sense that she was here.

The banging got more frantic and I could hear muffled voices. We ran down the hallway towards the sound. The door was protected extremely well with professional and hi tech technology. Lucky, we have a pretty high tech item our selves- Nudge. With in a minute, the security precautions were off.

"Over there! Get them!" A whitecoat was pointing to us as a sea of erasers were running towards us.

We rushed into the room and prayed that Phoenix was there and there was an opening to get out. "Phoenix?!"

"Mommy!" I heard Phoenix crying. "Help me! I can't get out!"

"Phoenix!" Fern and Fang ran over to her as Nudge was desperately undoing the locks. I was trying to look for a way out. There was concrete above but I saw a slip of light through a crack. There was light above here.

"Gazzy, Iggy, Fire it up!" Their eyes lit with excitement as they fumbled with the bombs in their pockets.

Nudge had opened the lock and Phoenix was climbing out.

She ran to me. "Mommy, you have to get Neona out… you have to!" She was pointing to another cage. Inside the cage was another kid. Who looked exactly like Phoenix… she was huddled in the corner looking at us with amazement.

"I- I don't…" I looked at Phoenix. "- Who are you?"

She spoke with the calmest voice. "Phoenix can explain, but the erasers are coming now. You should go."

"…uh Max" Gazzy whined.

"Okay fine- come on Nudge, open it!" She fumbled with the lock. The erasers were coming. Fang had closed the door and moved a bunch of cages against it to stall them.

Gazzy pleaded. "…Maxxx.."

"What!" I whipped around.

"The bomb is gonna go off!"

"Crap." I muttered. "Everyone down!" Just as the bomb went off, the other girl jumped out of her cage and was thrown to the ground.

Tiny pieces came crumbling down as light poured in.

"Are you okay?" I helped her to her feet as the erasers were pounding on the door. The door was starting to open.

"Come on! Lets go!" Fang carried Phoenix in his arms. He made sure I was okay and he burst through the opening.

I carried the other girl and allowed the rest of the flock to go through. Just as I was getting ready to fly through he opening, something caught my ankle.

"Got you birdie." _Crap. _

I shook my ankle and held the girl tight in my arms. The girl's eyes glowed and she glared at the erasers. Slowly, he turned white.

"Neo—na… you'll pay for this." He coughed and sputtered up blood. Soon, he turned so pale that he froze and fell unconscious. The other erasers behind him backed away in fear.

As soon as he loosened his grip on my, I shot through the opening. I soared through the ceiling and into the sky to meet my flock. As I was flying, I noticed… Neona? Squirming.

"You can let me go now. I have wings."

"Oh… um okay.." I steadied her in my arms as she opened her wings. They were completely black except for the white wings. Exactly like Phoenix's. She let me loosen my grip before falling to the ground.

She laughed gleefully and arched upwards above me. She slowed herself to wait for me. Her eyes glowed with excitement. "This is amazing!"

"Who are you?"

She smiled. "I'm your daughter…. You're my mom and this is now my family."

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**REVIEW and give me suggestions! **


	25. Surprises are better than promises

**IM BACKK! So I've been kind of MIA for a WHILE and I'm so sorry but believe me when I say that I was so busy... Literally. I didn't have any time to physically sit down and write another chapter.. I wrote the first half of this a couple weeks ago and then I had a major writer's block but I've been feeling so guilty about not uploading so I finished this chapter. I have a really good idea for the future plot and I'm SO EXCITED. Anyway, I'm not dead and I'm not abandoning this story. :) **

**Here's Chapter 25 and hope you enjoy! I will be updating (somewhat) consistently from now on :) **

**~Harmony**

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 25**

**MAX P.O.V**

_So it's true then. I have two daughters…. Who are twins!_ We had been flying back to our cave. We decided that we could stay there for some time at least until the school year finished. The school didn't know where we lived so that was fine. We were almost back in Colorado and I had been getting to know Neona. She was so much like Phoenix yet so different. She reminded me of Angel quite a bit… quiet, reserved and wise beyond her years.

"Max, can we eat something?" Neona looked at me.

I smiled at her. "You can call me mom… and yes we can eat."

"It's so weird having a family now." Neona looked at all the lights below. "… and flying without a net above me.. sorry you guys have to go slow… I guess I haven't built up my stamina for flying yet."

Fern comforted her. "It's okay! When my sister and I got out, it was really hard too. I mean, they don't really let you fly for long and like two feet off the ground any way."

Neona chuckled. "Yeah. By the way, nice wings."

"Thanks… yours too! They look _exactly_ like Phoenix. If it wasn't for your eyes, I wouldn't have been able to tell you apart!" Fern looked between Phoenix and Neona.

"Well we clearly have opposite personalities." Phoenix was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'll say. You're the talkative one, Phoenix." I nudged Fang. "Neona, you're the strong and silent one. I wonder where that came from." I rolled my eyes and laughed. "But it's a quality to be admired."

Fang was over the moon about finding out about Neona. "You can say that again. Talking hurts my ears."

Neona laughed with Phoenix and Fern. _This was absolutely perfect_.

Suddenly, Neona stopped laughing. "The erasers."

I jerked my head up and looked around. "What? There's no-"

"No. The erasers. They'll be looking for me… I've put you guys in danger!"

Fang switched positions with me. "Don't worry! We've always been in danger… now we'll be fighting even harder than before. We finally found another daughter that we didn't even know we had and we are not about to lose any one of the flock again."

Neona smiled. "This is different. Having a family I mean. I've dreamed about it… but never even thought it would become a reality."

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**PHOENIX P.O.V**

This was the best day ever! We rescued Neona and I got to finally get to know my sister! Fern and I were reunited and were telling Neona all kinds of things about Colorado. We had stopped about 10 minutes ago at a fast food restaurant.

"Pick anything you want! You haven't even had real food!" I was jumping up and down with excitement.

"Ummm… I don't know what any of this stuff is. I guess I'll have a vegetarian burger?" Neona shrugged her shoulders. "Looks good, right?"

"You have to get fries!" Fern was jumping up and down too.

"Sure why not." Neona smiled and looked around at the restaurant. It was night but this was a 24-hour McDonalds.

"Go for it. You can get anything you want." Max nudged us forward and ordered.

We all ran to the booth and sat down. We discussed everything that we were going to do when we get back.

"I'm going to be in so much trouble. I'll probably get put back into the foster system." Fern said nonchalantly.

"_What?_ No you won't! You can live with us! We can move to another state or something… Somewhere where your parents won't find you."

"It's not that hard to find someone who looks like me and won't it be suspicious when you _and_ you entire family leave along with me?"

"Oh right."

"I could erase their memory?" Neona pitched in.

"_You can erase memories?!" _Fern and I looked at her with open eyes.

"Well can't you? You can read minds and control them right?"

"Yeah but it's kind of hard…" I furrowed my brow. "Could I erase memories?"

"If you learned how to use your powers properly. The school forced me to do all types of things. They even got me to dirty work for them sometimes."

"Like what kind of dirty work?"

"Um… like killing CEO's of companies and stuff." Our eyes widened. "Like said, they're planning something really big."

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**FERN P.O.V**

"What other stuff have you done for the School?" Fern asked me.

"Ummm I don't think it's a good idea to tell you now." They had made me do a _lot_ and I don't think anyone can handle it right now especially after finding out that I even existed.

"Oh that's okay! When you're ready to talk about it." Phoenix smiled at me. God she looked exactly like me. It was a bit freaky.

"Max? Can we leave now?" I turned to the booth behind us and looked at my mom. Wow feels good to call her mom… in my head at least. I looked over at Angel she smiled at me. Oh right she can read minds too. _Mind blocks! _

Max gestured nodded at everyone. "Yup looks like just about everyone are done. Lets get going- but I'm just going to get some food to fill up this backpack because who knows when we'll get to eat next."

I smiled and nodded. I looked around at my- family. Fang- my father. I can definitely see the resemblance between him and I. I can imagine that he's a little freaked out but who can blame him? I looked at Gazzy and Iggy, fooling around as usual. Under all that playfulness, I know Gazzy understands more that he allows people to believe and Iggy is probably the most caring members of the flock. Nudge… she talks a LOT but contrary to what people think, she's very shy… like me- kind of… and she's very, very smart… As she's talking, I pried into her brain. She isn't thinking of anything that she's talking about… instead; I can almost see the gears in her head moving rapidly trying to figure out a puzzle? A rhyme? Something. Talking about one thing- as a mask- but thinking about another. And of course, there's my mom- Max, the most headstrong person I know. I'm proud to call her mom (in my head of course). And then there's Angel. I can't figure her out. Maybe it's because we're too alike. Unlike Phoenix, I didn't have anyone to teach me to control my powers- so when I found out that I could listen to people's thoughts, I didn't know how to stop it. Phoenix was always able to weed out the people she didn't want to listen to… but even though I have taught myself control, often, I keep my ears open for any piece of information that could help me. And unfortunately, that comes with many consequences. Knowledge is great but also a huge burden. What was that saying? Ignorance is bliss? Well, that, I agree with. Ignorance is bliss- because bliss is where I want to be but not where I- or the flock- is. There won't be peace for a long time. I can see it. My visions don't lie. I can feel it. Something is coming- but the flock can't know until I figure it out first. I know that whatever it is will take us by surprise but in my opinion, surprises are better that promises because I can't promise to keep the flock safe.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**A bit of foreshadowing for what's to come next :) Hope you enjoyed!**


	26. Nisi Mai

**A/N: I'm being consistent! :) Here's the next chapter! There are some parts in Latin and I'm not completley fluent in it but I hope it's right... it isn't too hard to understand but I thought that it'd be interesting. Hope you enjoy... and I kinda have the plot fixed but keep sending me ideas because I have already used a few and I only know the general plot so if there are any specific things you'd want to see, let me know! **

**REVIEW! :) **

**~Harmony**

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 26**

**NEONA P.O.V**

_Neona, use your power! _I could sense the frustration in Phoenix's voice.

_I won't. I only use it when needed. _

_You need it now! _

_No. _

They kept nagging me to use my power but I won't. I only use it in a life or death situation. This was _not_ a life or death situation. A kid just cut in front of me, as we were about to get a milkshake.

I turned to Phoenix and gave her a look.

"Seriously." I sighed, amused. "This is why you need control… and knowing when to use your power and when to not is a part of it."

"Fine. But now you get a milkshake a minute later than you could have gotten it."

I rolled me eyes and laughed. Having a sister was great.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**MAX P.O.V. **

I turned away from watching the kids and spoke to the older members of the flock.

"Okay guys, this is great and all but we need to keep moving and thinking ahead. The school will obviously still be looking for them for the rest of their lives… Look at us- adults, and still being chased."

"Max—" Nudge started. "I think-"

"Shh not now Nudge." I closed my eyes. "Okay here's what we're going to do. We're going to go back to Colorado, some how, Fern's foster parents will accept her in and by somehow I mean we know how." I gave Angel a look. "… and we're high tailing it to another state. Got it?"

"Max!" Nudge frantically yelled. "I think that we should be think about the disaster that's coming."

We all swiveled out head to her.

"What?" We all questioned at the same time.

"Yeah Neona told me that she kept seeing visions and I think that they're visions of the future. In her sleep, last night, she mumbled a rhyme or something."

Iggy dismissed the thought. "So? It's probably a story or some silly children's song."

"No it wasn't. I heard it Jeb's head." Neona spoke up from behind us with Phoenix and Fern at her heels.

"Um. Sorry what?"

"The rhyme. I told you I have visions of the school doing horrible things and I think that the rhyme will help us save the world from the school." She said this is one long breath with a melodious tone.

We were all speechless.

I broke out of my daze. _It's like when we were kids all over again. Jeb must want Phoenix and Neona to save the world like how he wanted me to save it. I already did though… right? _"Okay. Neona, don't worry. We'll prevent the school from doing whatever it is they're planning but now, we have to get moving."

I gathered out things and we rushed out of the mall, into a clearing and up to the sky.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**PHOENIX P.O.V. **

Finally, we were home. I could finally show Neona where I grew up. Of course, she was knocked out on my bed right now. Angel had taken Fern to her foster parents house to "deal with the damage". And Mom and Dad would talk to the school tomorrow so that a missing child's picture wouldn't be all over the state.

I watched Neona sleep. Those visions that she sees- well I see them too. And I know exactly what she's talking about. It's as if we see the same image but judging from our connection, I see how that 's possible.

"Hey." Neona was awake.

"I thought you were sleeping?"

"Well I'm not anymore."

"Yup!" I smiled and walked over to my bed and reached under. I handed her a change of clothes and pointed to the shower. "You can clean yourself up… right through that door… Max says we have to be ready because we might have to leave at any moment."

Neona took the clothes. "You know, you're nothing like how I imagined you to be." She started walking to the bathroom door and before closing it, said "…You're even better than I imagined you to be."

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**NEONA P.O.V**

"_Save me!"_

_I know you. Your voice… I thought I'd never hear it again. It's a dream or a vision. _

"_Trust your instincts… you have to save me!" _

_Save you from what... or who? _

"_I can't tell you that but you have to get be out of this hell hole. You and your family are the only ones who can do it." _

_Why us? _

"_Because you're all special." _

_Who is this person that is trapping you? I can only see bits and pieces of it. You have to tell me more or I can't do much. _

"_Oh you can do plenty. You just don't know it yet." _

_I know you can't tell me what or who or you'll get killed, but a clue? Anything? _

"_The poem." _

_But… but you never finished it. _

"_They are watching always, so Liberate me. It is not the doves you should fear. It is SHI._

_Me , et salva animam tuam."_

_Liberabo vos. I would promise but you know I don't do that. _

I woke up panting and gasping for air. I reached over and pulled the lampshade to see Phoenix staring at me.

"Are you okay? You were freaking out in your sleep…"

I shoved my hair back with one hand and grasped the nightstand with the other. I look around in a confused state.

"I'm fine. I need to think."

I walked outside the cave to the mountains. I guessed that it was around 4:30 am.

_She's alive. Or it must have been a dream. It had to be or it could have been her talking to me from heaven. Or maybe it's not. Maybe he does have her. But he was dead too? Or not. _

I shook my head. This was all too confusing. I fumbled with the pendant on my necklace. If she's alive, I have to save her. I looked at the sky. Dark, mysterious, comforting, with two starts illuminating me. A sign. Maleficent, I hear you, and I'm coming.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**MAX P.O.V. **

There she was. My daughter. Staring at the night sky deep in thought. She looked like ghost with her scarily dark hair and mesmerizing eyes. I should have known about her and saved her long before.

"Hey, Neona. Are you alright?"

She flinched a little in surprise.

"Yeah. I'm thinking."

"Okay. I'll think with you." Fang did this often. The best thing to do was give them space.

"We need to leave."

"Yes I know Neona, we're leaving tomorrow morning… I have an idea where but we'll discuss that."

"It's not Arizona. We have to go somewhere else. We have to save my friend. She's trapped and the people trapping her are planning to do something really bad."

"Which friend?"

"Maleficent."

"Like the one from the books? The evil one?"

Neona smiled. "No not that one. I met her when I was 2 at The School. She's really special to me and the only friend I had. A year and a half ago, she was moved to another room and that part of the building was somehow burnt and destroyed. The scientist with her and Maleficent both died… or so everyone thought. But I heard her voice today. She said she was alive and that she needed help."

I was speechless- which happens on rare occasions.

"I- uh- okay. We'll save your friend. If she's important to you and you trust her, so do I." I stood straighter and more confident. I was beginning to feel like a leader again. I hugged Neona.

"Don't worry. You'll get her back."

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**NEONA P.O.V. **

Good. Plan is in motion. Step 1, get everyone to agree to go there. Step 2, actually figure out what the poem means. I couldn't get sleep again and I'd been reciting that poem in my head over and over again. I remember when Maleficent first said it… when we first met.

_**~Flashback~ **_

"_Number 2347- Dark hair, tan skin, yellow glowing eyes, hybrid."_

_I perked my head up… new kid! _

"_Number 2347- Maleficent." _

_Maleficent? Now I was scared. _

"_Don't be scared of me." The girl was in front of my cage. She had huge glowing yellow eyes and dark wavy hair that cascaded down her shoulders. She was extremely tan and looked very mysterious. _

_I shuffled farther back into my cage and she looked sad. She got into her own cage and held the bars and tried to see me. _

"_Your name is Maleficent? Are you bad?" _

"_I can be. But call me Mai. It's much prettier. They gave me the name Maleficent because they think I'm evil."_

"_Are you?" _

"_So, what's you're name?" _

"_Neona." Her eyes lit up as soon as I said my name and she scooted even further in her cage. _

"_It's you. I know you. You're going to save the world one day. I feel it. And your family will help you." _

_Suddenly, she collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion. The whitecoats came rushing in with a bunch of needles to inject her with. When they left, she started to mumble something._

_What did it mean? I knew it was about me. This was one weird kid. _

_**~ End Flashback~**_

Of course. The poem. She saw this moment and she knew her fate. I looked into the sky and mumbled what she had said years ago. _Thank you Mai, I'm coming._

"_An old friend you once met can aide,_

_For she is not in the heavens above but in the hells of the masquerade_

_Pleading she is, for the future seen is too great to escape _

_The daughters of the warrior, saviors nonetheless _

_With Mother, Fire, Water, Earth, and Darkness- but none in excess. _

_They are watching always, so Liberate me. It is not the doves you should fear. It is SHI._

_Me , et salva animam tuam."_

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**PLEASE give me any ideas you have for the plot and/or upcoming chapters... all ideas are appreciated! :) **

**REVIEW!**


	27. Don't Judge a book by It's cover

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's a new chapter. And I think it's a good one so hope you enjoy! Again, please send me any suggestions that you have! Also as of a week ago, I'm officially 18 #adultlife and I committed to a University and its an Ivy League so yay! (Not harvard though haha) **

**Hope you like this chapter... it's pretty intense and I just wanted to say that I feel like Nudge is a very underrated character and I think there's a lot more to her than we see. Although James Patterson created the character Nudge, I don't think he did her justice (Still very grateful for the series though haha). So, I decided to add to her persona a little... :)**

**REVIEW!**

**~Harmony**

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 27:**

**NEONA P.O.V**

We had started packing to leave Boulder. I was walking around the cave house thing to look for a backpack that Max said was somewhere in Nudge's room. We were packing tonight, and leaving tomorrow morning. I walked into Nudge's room.

"Um… Nudge? It's Neona…" I slowly opened the door and walked in. No one was here? But I could feel her here.

"Yeah one second…" Nudge called out from outside her window.

What is she doing there? I walked to the window and looked outside. Nudge was sitting on the rocks that were growing little spurts of grass.

There was paper all around her with calculations or designs. "What's going on?"

"One second Neona." She said in a voice that I'm not entirely sure was hers.

I backed away from the window and stared. She was channeling some sort of energy… I could feel it. Suddenly a metal chain on her nightstand under the window flew towards her and she caught with a sudden swiftness. She opened her eyes and smiled… I could almost see devilish mischief in there.

"So, you wanted something?"

"Uh yeah... Max said there was an extra backpack in here somewhere?" I looked at the chain in her hand. "No one told me you could attract metal?!" I looked at her with wide eyes.

She swooped up all the papers on the floor and swung a leg over the windowsill.

"How could you know?" Nudge swung her other leg over and gracefully landed beside her nightstand. "There are a lot of things people don't know about me." She smiled mischievously. Almost immediately, she perked up and shook her head so her brown curls framed her face. Instantly, she looked 2 years younger.

"What were you doing outside?"

"Oh just a personal project…" She put the papers under her pillow and walked to her closet and took out a backpack.

"I know people say you talk a lot but I think you're very smart."

Nudge looked surprised. She pushed her hair away from her face and walked to her bed again. "Thanks… you know, if anything is bothering you, I could help… for example, helping break out Mai from Omega."

I was speechless… "You... you know about Omega? But how!"

"Like you said, I'm smart." She pulled out the papers. "The poem that you said… or rather said in your sleep. I remember most everything and that part about the masquerade... Obviously it has to be Omega."

"How could you possibly know about Omega… they just started the project-"

"-2 years ago. Right, but it's been in the works since _we_ were at the school. The flock didn't make much of it because I was just saying things- useless things. I would always be murmuring about Omega this and Omega that but no one would listen. I heard the scientists talking about it and I knew what was coming. I've been preparing ever since."

I looked at the papers in her hand. It was a design for some sort of device. "So what is this for?"

"This? This is for Gazzy and Iggy to make. Can't get my hands dirty. I only do the mental work- most of the time." She laughed. "But if you're so curious, this how we're getting Mai out."

"Why do you care so much about Mai? You don't even know her..."

"Oh I know her. I saw her before…. At the school." Her eyes glazed over as she remembered. She shook her head. "Well for one, she's the key to prevent world destruction. Max can't save the world without her. That, and because she's important to you and you're family now."

Max's called from outside "Neona! Did you find the backpack?"

I smiled. I have a family now. "I knew you weren't all just talk and giggles. The happiest people have the most to hide-"

Nudge carefully unclasped the metal chain and put it around her neck. "-And the most powerful people should be the least feared-" She winked before letting her hair fall around her face and letting her voice go up an octave.

"I gave it to her Max! I was thinking that I should take this one because the pink stripe would go _great_ with my shirt and she can use my black one because its seems to suit her perfectly and it matches her-"

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**PHOENIX P.O.V**

I was in town to get some last minute things for Max and Fang. They didn't want me going alone especially in the evening… not to mention that there were probably erasers after us, but I told them I could handle it.

"Sir, could you get that for me please?" I looked at the old man next to me and pointed at the bread that was 7 racks high.

"Sure thing sweety." He handed me three packets. "Where are your parents?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why?"

"Just wanna make sure you're safe."

"They're around here somewhere." I smiled at him and walked to the counter and made sure to keep an eye on him.

I paid with the dollar bills that Daddy gave me and walked out of the store. I felt the hair at the back of my neck rise. I walked to the wooded area until I reached a clearing.

I turned around as my eyes turned red with heat and thrust a flame and my pursuer.

"Ahh!" An eraser yelled as he dodged my flame. "Chick's psycho!"

I deep, growly voice silenced him. "Shush! Focus! Kill the girl, despite her powers." He pointed at me.

Ah. So I was the testing subject for this eraser- a learning toy for him. I'm no toy.

"Go ahead. Kill me. But word of advice, no one who has challenged me has lived to tell the tale."

The younger eraser scoffed. "I seriously doubt that. You're just a little eight year old girl."

I smiled wickedly. "Okay fine. Do you want to see my play area? You want to see my arena? My playground? My power over you?!" I laughed and turned around.

"Go! Jeb will be proud!" The mentor pushed the mentee to charge at me.

I could hear him start to run at me. "Arghhhh—"

I turned around in some sort of trance. "SHH!" I lit the leaves in front of him on fire. I whispered. "My friends can hear you— and they're mad."

"What friends?!" The eraser was scared out of his wits.

"SHH!" I turned back around. "I'm playing."

I lit the entire clearing on fire and the eraser started screaming bloody murder. At first, I thought I was out of control… but no- I had perfect control. I knew what I was doing.

"Stop! Stop it! Please! Don't kill him!" The eraser was on his knees gasping for air as the smoke choked him. "He's my father!" He looked back but unfortunately, it was too late. His fathers body was only ashes. "Dad! You killed my father!"

"And you tried to kill me!" I crossed my arms.

"I've heard that you and your family are trying to be some kind of superhero's and save the earth. But you're not that much different than any of us."

"Don't say that! I'm _nothing_ like you!"

"You're _exactly _like me!" His body morphed out of its wolf-like state into a normal teenage boy- not much older than Gazzy. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. Eyes those were lifeless and still. I watched as the flames engulfed him until he was nothing but ashes.

I ended the fire and looked at the damage that I had done. "What have I done?" I whispered.

I grabbed the packets of bread that were near me and walked to the pond that Fern and I spent our days at. I looked at my reflection. I was the same as him- a killer.

I saw a leaf float to the pond and saw Fern standing near the edge.

"Phoenix!" She ran to me and hugged me. "Oh you're burning… are you sick?"

I wiped the sweat and ashes off of my face. I splashed my face with water and turned to face my friend.

"Oh I know what happened."

"You- you do?"

"Of course… You don't want to leave Boulder not knowing how you're going to save your friend right?"

"Oh yeah… of course!" I gave a mental sigh of relief. No one would ever know about what I did.

"Well surprise… I'm coming with you!" She took one bag of groceries and walked with me to the burnt clearing. "Angel successfully cleared my foster parent's memory and the principal's so we are no longer missing children and I no longer have parents and I couldn't be happier. Woah, what happened here?" She looked around at the burnt area.

"Oh- uh… I thought someone was following me so I got paranoid."

"Ah… understandable… anyway, lets go!" She spread her wings out and leapt up into the sky.

I looked around at the ashes of the teenage boy. His words echoed in my head.

"_We're exactly the same."_

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Was it intense? If not, well too bad. **

**REVIEW!**

**~Harmony **


	28. It's too soon to leave yet

**Hey guys! So this chapter is fairly long so I hope you like it :) Lots of information and plot twists.. hopefully, it's not too confusing! **

**I love everyone who reviewed and thank you so much! **

**Please Review! It's where I get motivation to write haha ;)**

**~Harmony **

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 28: It's too soon to leave yet. **

**Neona P.O.V**

Something was wrong…. There was something off about Phoenix. Generally, I can sense people's emotions because I'm very intuitive and Phoenix can do it too… I just haven't taught her. But I guess that's a good thing now because she can't block out her aura. I was scared for her.

Ever since we met, I've sensed her aura getting darker and darker. Now, I can feel a darkness slowly starting to creep in. I know what happens when people lose control of their powers. It happened to Mai and that's how she ended up at Omega.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked Phoenix.

Max was filling up a couple water bottles with Fern inside the cave and everyone was waiting outside to get ready to take off. I decided to use this opportunity to calm Phoenix down.

"No." She let her long black hair fall over her face, creating a shadow. Nothing like the bright Nix that I always saw in my visions.

"Something happened. Remember, all you have to do is control." I touched my crystal.

"Easy for you to say. You've been locked up all this time. All you could do was control." Her tone shifted to defensive.

"You know my friend, the one I talked about?"

"Yeah the one you wouldn't stop talking about? The one we're going to save.."

"Mai. But do you know her real name? The whitecoats gave it to her because they thought she was evil. She's the most powerful hybrid."

"No I am. Jeb said that I was always the most powerful… the mot successful mutant ever. But I guess it both of us now cause we're basically the same."

"That's what they want you to think. Our powers alone are very special- and yes powerful. But there is more than just that. Control. Some one who doesn't have control will show no mercy. Mai- she didn't show any Mercy. Probably killed 100 whitecoats when she was born."

"She doesn't sound very dangerous…"

"Exactly. One of the biggest mistakes is to underestimate another. Her powers are deadly… more dangerous than ours. She had a family once, but killed them. That's when the whitecoats found her. She was only 4. The school made her do their dirty work for them and she killed many other mutants because of it."

"So then why are we going to save her because obviously, she's a threat."

"She's learned to control. The white coats forced her to do horrible things… when her part of the building mysteriously burned down, I knew that she had to be alive and responsible… but the leader of the whitecoats' body was never found. That's when they had no one but me to do the dirty work instead of her."

"What kind of things did they make you do?"

"I can't tell you. But lets just say that I've had a lot of regrets. Truth be told, we are not that much different from the whitecoats." Phoenix's eyes went wide. "We're exactly the same, but with a different cause. _We_ are on this earth to save people from the damage they have already done and to save future victims... _not_ to get revenge."

"I am the same as them. What if we lose control? I'm never going to gain control... and all I want to do is get revenge."

"You say that now. But you will learn to control your powers. Because if you don't, you'll end up like Mai. Alone, and scared. I said I would help but you have to be willing to receive it."

Phoenix looked at me reluctantly. "Everyone is probably waiting for us." She started walking to the front of the cave. "We should go."

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Phoenix P.O.V**

To be honest, I didn't want the help. I would figure this out myself. If I needed help, that would mean I was weak. I looked at Neona. She was the epitome of calm and serene. Although she says her power is deadly, I'm skeptical about it. My power is fire. Hers is ice. Mine is more dangerous… how can _she_ possibly teach _me_ control.

"Ready?" Mom walked up to us and smiled. She mentioned for us to follow her so we did. She walked over to Dad and took his hand. If I was in charge, we would have already saved Mai by now and killed all the whitecoats.

"A lot of memories in this cave. The second place I'd call home. But don't worry. If we get the chance, we'll be back." She put her hand with two fingers out in the middle. "For old times sake?"

Everyone put their hands in. Gazzy smiled mischievously... "Lets blow this popsicle stand."

But then again, did I really want to be alone when I have a family who loves me?

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Neona P.O.V. **

We had been flying for almost the whole day now. Our wings were aching but we had gotten pretty far. Omega was in a secluded island in Hawaii so we were headed southwest from Colorado. We decided to stop in Los Angeles and taking a break before crossing the ocean, which would probably take about half the day.

Suddenly, my head started to hurt and Mai's voice boomed into my head.

'_Neona! You must save Phoenix before they take her completely!'_

_Mai! Are you okay? We're coming to get you!_

'_Yes, yes, I'm okay for now but Phoenix is in danger! I know you've been sensing it… and if you don't teach her to control her powers in time... well you know what that did to me but she won't be able to bring goodness back into her heart. Her power revolves around death. Finding a balance is harder for her if you don't help.' _

_I'm trying but she's reluctant! She won't take my help. _

'_Maybe I can help.'_

_No! Mai! You'll hurt her… I know what you want to do and it's not a good idea. If she really is being consumed by the darkness, it'll only feed into her ego more. This is not a good idea. She has to fight it herself or I could lose her forever!_

'_Well I have to try.. otherwise, you know she'll become bad herself. I have to go now. Keep an eye on Phoenix, please. You know that once they take her, you'll never get her back.' _

"Neona? Neona! Are you okay?!" Nudge was holding me as we were descending.

I looked around… "What happened?"

"You were holding your head and yelling in pain… is everything okay? You stopped flapping your wings and you started to fall."

Fang looked at me with worried eyes. "Why don't we stop here for the night…" He took my hand and helped me stand up.

"No… no… lets get the L.A first. Then we can rest. Mai can't wait. I was talking to her and that's why I fell." I looked up at the flock. "She needs us and she's in terrible danger… we can't wait any longer."

The others looked at each other and Fang asked, "Do you think you can hold up for just an hour more? We'll be there soon."

I nodded. "Yes. I can fly. I'm fine now."

As we took off, I noticed Phoenix at the corner of my eye. She was becoming more and more erratic. Her temperature kept rising and falling judging from her putting on her jacket and then taking it off 5 minutes later and repeating this multiple times. I glanced at Fern who met my eye.

Fern shrugged at me with worried eyes. I knew that Fern knew. She nodded at me in acknowledgment and held up a red stone in her hand. I caught my breath.

"Is that…" I whispered in awe, "… a ruby?"

She lowered her voice and flew out of formation a bit before responding. "I've had this since I met Phoenix. It's my sister's. When she was killed, she left this for me. She said it would be of good use to someone else in my life. I didn't realize until I met you and you had a crystal to help you control."

I touched my pendant. "This is a hawks eye. It used to be a light blue but over time, it turned black. Hawk eye's often do that but oddly enough, it coincided with the lowest time of my life. When I worked for the school- when they made me do… bad things... now, it only has a hint of blue."

"It's so pretty..." She looked down at the ruby. "I think this can help Phoenix."

"I think so too. It's like it was meant to be." I looked at Phoenix. She was closing her eyes and shaking her head as if she was having a battle with herself. "Oh no. Mai's done it… "

"What? What has she done?"

"Mai's power is one of the most dangerous powers… no it is _the_ most dangerous power- Darkness in all aspects. I've been sensing Nix's aura and it feels off… it feels like Mai's."

"So she's becoming dark?"

"More than that… once the darkness consumes you, you can never go back to being good again. Mai lives in that darkness but has chosen to live in the light but the aura aura around her will always be black. I was once almost consumed by that same darkness but I had already begun to gain control of my powers by then. Phoenix has never had to struggle with that before because her power is naturally destructive so she is at more of a risk. Once she loses control of her power for good, she'll never be Pheonix again."

"But the crystal can help her right?"

"I don't know. Mai is dangerous; she can control anything that has a dark aura, which means she can control everyone- not everyone is good you know. If she penetrates Phoenix with the same feelings of loss of control, and Phoenix fights it, she will have gained control and will never be consumed by the darkness."

Fern looked hopeful. "So Phoenix can fight it, and she'll be normal again?"

"See, the powers of hybrids are very different- personal. They coincide with personality. Phoenix goes through mood changes quite often. When she's in charge, that's when her powers are the strongest and she is the happiest… and that scares me."

"Yeah! She'll be completely normal and then when she feels threatened, she can't stop hurting the other person." Fern looked into the distance. "She killed two erasers who were _begging_ for mercy. She was completely out of it… like someone was controlling her. She doesn't know I know."

"Oh no." I shook my head. "It won't work then. Phoenix will be consumed... she'll never be good again!"

"What... what are you talking about?!"

"I'm talking about Mai! Once she penetrates Phoenix with darkness, she can choose to fight it or give in to it. Based on her actions thus far, I'm certain that she'll give into it… instead of making her feel what dread and guilt are, it'll only feed into her ego and power and make her stronger and more dangerous."

"No…" Fern gasped. "You don't possible think that she'll give into it right? She can fight it!"

"She could…" I took the ruby in my hand and held it up to the moonlight. "But Fern, you're very intuitive, so tell me. Has there ever... _ever_ been a time where Phoenix hurt someone or wanted to hurt someone and she never even once thought of feeling guilty?"

Fern was silent. The only sounds that we could hear were the wind rushing past out wings and the cool mist of the clouds.

Suddenly, Phoenix yelled a blood-curdling scream. She was holding her head and dropping- fast.

"Phoenix!" I angled my wings down and shot after her. I furrowed by brow and tried to get into her head.

_Fight it Phoenix! You can do it! Please fight it! Think of your family and Fern... and me. We just found each other. I already lost you for 9 years and I'm not about to lose you again. _

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Hope you enjoyed and it wasn't too confusing :) **

**REVIEW!**

**~Harmony**


	29. Constructed by Liars

**A/N: I'm not dead. **

**Really sorry about not updating for literally months but I have more free time now so more updates coming! I felt really bad about not updating but truthfully, I was spending time with friends before they all leave for University and I also was in a really bad writer's block. But recently, I went to an exhibit by a famous artist and I suddenly got an idea for this fic. Now that, I have a general idea for this, I'll be updating regularly again... Anyway, this chapter is kind of different from what the other chapters were like. I think the concept is changing a bit which I'm not really sure if I like... I'll bring it back to "reality" or as real as the series can get haha. **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and REVIEW PLEASE! Also send me any plot suggestions or anything that you want to happen in future chapters and I'll try to make it happen ;) **

**~Harmony**

**0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000**

**Chapter 29: Constructed by Liars**

**Neona P.O.V**

_Mai! What did you do? If you kill Phoenix…._

'_You know just as well as I do that anything she does from this point is all on her. She has to choose to fight it.' _

_I'm not sure she'll even go down that path._

'…'

_Mai? Are you there? _

'…'

_Are you okay? _

I glanced at Phoenix. She was on the floor breathing hard and her eyes were entranced in a strange gaze. I walked over to here. I thought of Nix and her powers and what she had done with them. I took the Ruby that Fern gave my in my palm and held it up to the moonlight.

"I think I can help her." All eyes turned to me. Max stood stone-faced hiding her fears under her poker face. She knelt down to Phoenix and nodded.

I took a deep breath. "Okay."

I rolled the stone in my hand around feeling its energy. "Fern I need your help since this was your sister's before."

Fern nodded. She knew what to do. I assume her sister and told her more information than she revealed to others. I placed the stone on Phoenix's chest. I held hands with Fern as we closed our eyes and felt the power radiating off of the stone.

Images of Ember, Fern's sister, played through out minds. From the moment she saw her little sister, to protecting her, to controlling her powers. The stone's power was nearing the climax but suddenly, it felt strange.

_-Flashback Ember P.O.V-_

_I looked around the area. Dead, still, silent. I glanced at Fern and remembered that I vowed to always protect her. They weren't going to kill me and Fern was never going to grow up at the school. I promise. _

"_Ember?" Fern's tiny body shifted to face me while holding on to the branch. _

"_Yeah?" _

"_Do you hear that?" _

_I shot my head up and peered into the woods. The leaves ahead rustled and I narrowed my eyes. Fern unraveled the vines holding us in place and she stood behind me. I started to heat up my body in case they were here. I would roast them. 3 months without them and now they show up? Why? _

_Before I knew it, there was a pair of red eyes in my face. I immediately punched the eraser, making him fall 20 feet to the ground. I grabbed Fern and was ready to jump off when I heard a loud bang. A gun?! They never used guns. Erasers were their weapons… they must really be after us if they lost faith in their own creation. _

_I ducked as Fern cried out. I breathed out. We dodged the bullet. I felt the weight of the Ruby. I created a circle of fire around the tree and illuminated the area exposing hundreds of erasers surrounding us. _

"_It's time Ember." I swiveled my head. I clenched my fists. It was Jeb. _

"_It is NOT time. You said I had more time." _

"_Well unfortunately, we don't have the patience for you to dilly-dally around. I asked you to get the mission done and it's still not done." _

"_I said-" I eyed our escape routes. _

"_You say a lot of things Ember. Yet, you fail to act upon them. Why? Is taking care of your sister making you weak? Taking too much of your energy?" He spewed spit as he yelled. _

"_I will get it done. But you still haven't done what I asked." _

"_YOU work for US. You are in no positions to ask for favors." An eraser bellowed out. _

"_Either you get rid of your sister and kill Mai or we'll just kill your sister now." _

_Fern gasped behind me "You-you were going to kill me?" She looked at me with eyes of betrayal. _

"_No! I was going to take you somewhere safe. They said they'd keep both of us safe if I did the mission." _

"_What was the mission?" _

_I stared at Fern, at the fire reflecting from her innocent eyes. "You don't need to know." _

"_Enough! Now you come with us or she dies!" The erasers aimed a gun directly at Fern. _

_I furrowed my brow and thrust another line of fire directly at Jeb…. But I wasn't fast enough. _

"_SHOOT!" _

_I gasped as Jeb dodged the fire. "NO!" I pushed Fern off the branch, knowing she'd catch herself. The bullet dove in to the tree. In my panic, I subconsciously dulled the fire. I didn't have the energy to keep it up. _

_The erasers snapped their jaws at Fern as they ran towards her. _

"_OKAY! I'll do the mission!" Jeb put a hand up and the erasers stopped instantly. "But Fern stays safe." _

_Just like that, Jeb agreed. "Alright. Come with us." Erasers grabbed my arms and I heard Fern yelling for me. _

_She was yelling at the top of her lungs as tears rolled down her face. "Ember! Don't leave me! PLEASE!" I glanced at her, body limp from shock lying in a pile of charred leaves. _

"_WAIT!" I broke free of their grasp as I ran to Fern. "Fern, I love you okay? Be safe and everything will be all right." _

_I glanced as Jeb allowed me to have this moment. I whispered in her ear as I hugged her. "There will be a family for you in sometime. When you meet her, you'll know. But it's your responsibility to take care of her okay? Just know that I'll always be watching over you." _

"_What are you talking about?" _

_I placed my hand on her cheek and closed my eyes. I filled her thoughts with the best memories that we had… and the worst one that she'll ever have. She fell to the ground in a deep trance._

"_Someday, when it's time, you'll see this memory and come find me."_

_I took the Ruby from my pocket and placed it in her palm. I felt the warmth of the stone as I passed it on to her. _

_I whispered. "See you soon Fern, and Neona. I'm counting on it." The Ruby was in her hands now._

_-End Flashback-_

I opened my eyes and stared at Fern. "Fern! Are you okay?"

"She's alive, Neona! My sister is alive!"

I started to breathe heavily again. No, no, no this can't be happening. I knew what I had to do.

"We can't use the crystal to save Phoenix anymore." I sighed.

Fern looked worried. "No! There has to be another way! Maybe it can still work?"

I shook my head. "No, we can't risk using it if there is a possibility that your sister is alive."

"She is alive! You saw!" Fern's eyes were filled with hope. "So basically, you're saying that we have to choose between Ember and Phoenix."

"Essentially." I clasped my crystal. "But I won't let you do that. There's another way."

I took off my crystal. Although my stone was almost black, there was a hint of blue that shined from the moonlight. I took a deep breath.

_I'm sorry Mai. I'm really sorry… but I have no choice._

I placed the crystal on her chest and a tried to grasp what was left of Phoenix.

_Come on, Phoenix! You can fight the darkness! Please do it for me! _

'_Neona?' _

I gasped. _Phoenix! I knew you were still there! Come on fight it! _

'_I don't want to fight it. I feel at peace here.' _

_That peace only leads to chaos! Come on! Think of your family… _

'_Family? Max… Fang…' _

_Yes, them! I can feel it Phoenix, please resist the darkness, I'm begging you. I'm giving you one last chance. _

'_Family… everyone underestimates me. Everyone tells me to control myself but here, I don't need to control myself. I can do whatever I want.' _

I sighed. I had to do it. Phoenix was not herself anymore. _I'm really sorry. _

I felt the intense heat and power of Phoenix's aura. It was so strong I could almost see it. Blackness swirling around with only a hint of red. I reached out to the darkness, coaxing it in. The red became brighter and bigger until only a hint of darkness remained. Meanwhile, I could feel it filling up inside myself. The power that Phoenix felt, the power corrupting her, was now in me.

I opened my eyes as I watched the stone turn from the grayish-black with slight blue to an intense midnight black.

"Phoenix is alright." I gasped in exhaustion. "She fought the darkness off. It's gone."

Angel looked at me in worry. "Are you sure?" She handed to stone back to me. "You seem… different."

"I'm just tired now. Don't worry." I smiled a little. "We did it… Phoenix is going to be okay."

Phoenix will be okay. But I don't know if I'll be okay. I fought it off before, I can keep it at bay. I'll be fine. I repeated that to myself over and over again. I'll be fine.

I glanced at Fern who was still on cloud 9 after finding out her sister might still be alive.

"Neona, do you think my sister will be at the same place Mai is at? At Omega?"

"Probably" I tried to give a hopeful smile.

"Do you promise that we'll save her?" Fern clutched the red stone as if her life depended on it.

"Sure." I looked off into the distance as I lied through my teeth.

After all, we live in a world that is built on promises constructed by liars.

**0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000**

**REVIEW :) **

**~Harmony**


	30. Darkness doesn't always mean Evil

**A/N: HEY guys! So I drew a plan for the next chapters and I'm quite excited for them. I was thinking of giving hints towards the plot but I think I'm just going to let everyone be surprised ;) **

**Enjoy this chapter! REVIEW PLEASE. **

**~Harmony **

**0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000**

**Chapter 30: Darkness doesn't always mean Evil. **

**NEONA P.O.V**

I couldn't move. There were flashes of people screaming, bombs going off everywhere, and the thing that scared me the most, the flock all lying dead. Was this the future? As much as I wanted to stop the horrible images playing in my head, I couldn't. My mind told me to feel fear but instead, I felt numb.

"Stop! Ahhhh!" I could hear Phoenix flailing in the bed next to me. I could hear banging against the wall as she slammed her head repeatedly.

Max's voice broke through. "Neona wake up!"

"Phoenix stop banging your head! You're hurting yourself! Please stop!"

"Angel make her stop! She'll die!"

"Fang, Iggy, hold her down!"

"Gazzy, wake Neona up, she's not moving!"

I felt Gazzy shaking me, trying to get me to wake up but their voices were smothered in the sounds of Eraser snarls and bombs. Suddenly, I felt my necklace being ripped from my neck and I immediately opened my eyes and looked at Phoenix's bloodied face.

She met my eyes and stopped. She snapped out of the trance she was in and started crying.

"It was horrible! There were bombs and the flock was dead and I was being tortured and…."

I zoned out as she began describing what I had just seen. Did this mean… was this the future? I looked at the blood on the wall of the motel. Did… did I do this?

**0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000**

**MAX P.O.V**

I looked at the clock: 11 pm. After Neona and Phoenix both had nightmares, I had a brain attack. The first one in years. Something big was happening but I didn't know what. I had a feeling that someone else here did though. I thought about the past couple of years.

When did the kids become the leaders? When did they dictate what we did and where we were going? I sighed, knowing the answer myself. It wasn't our generation anymore. My flock, and I. Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel and I… we weren't the saviors anymore. Times had changed, technology more advanced, powers mutating to things beyond our imagination.

Neona had experienced more than we had even though we grew up in that hell-hole. She knew more than any of us. She's haunted by worse things than we had experienced. It's their time to save the world. Our time had passed… it's their turn now. Our life was rainbows and unicorns up until a couple months ago. That was the calm before the storm. And now, there was a hurricane headed our way, and although I may not be the hero anymore, I can still lead us to the right path, after all, I am what started it all. I am Maximum Ride.

**0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000**

**MAI P.O.V**

_Neona you need to get here quickly. Time is running out! _

I sighed and sat up against the wall. It was filled with LED lights because they know the darkness doesn't scare me. In fact, it's how I travel and it's my home. I jumped up and scampered around the room. I've been in here for years. Years. With the exception of missions here and there. But there was one mission that I couldn't do. No matter how bad people say I am, I'm not _that_ bad. They must have found someone else to do it… but no one else was as capable as me.

I crawled around the room to the door. The lights weakened me. Once, when they gave me food, I saw a switch outside the door. Not only did they keep me entrapped in the light but the vents in the room secreted some gas or drug that prevents me from using my power. The switch turns all of that off. I've been trying to get someone in this room for a long time… throwing fits, saying I had some information for them… I need energy. I need someone to open the door just once.

I was getting antsy… I had no more patience. I needed energy. I banged on the walls.

"LET ME OUT!" My hair sprawled across my face and my green-yellow eyes narrowed. I crawled to the mic in the corner. "I NEED TO LEAVE."

I panted heavily running from wall to wall, scratching, hoping that someone would come. I heard something. I could hear metal scraping as the door to my cell shifted.

I shielded my eyes as even brighter light fell into the room. I looked up and my shoulders fell in dejection. An eraser. Not even a human. I looked at my shaking hands. I looked at the door propped open as he flipped the switch off so he could enter. The lights dimmed and I could already feel myself getting better. I could smell the eraser as he came forward. I eyed the door. I could escape right now. This was my chance. I glanced back at the eraser coming towards me with a taser.

On the other hand, the flock was coming anyway. Where else will I get another source of energy. It's not like this eraser was a hero or anything. The eraser inched forward, being cautious.

He growled at me. "What? What do you want? You wanted someone to come."

I smiled viciously as I stepped back into the shadows. "What do mean? You didn't want to come for a visit?"

I felt my body become one with darkness and I dissolved into blackness. It felt great to be back. Human form was so… so heavy. In the shadows, everything is light. No irony intended.

"Where are you?" The eraser shifted back and forth. He started to run to the switch to turn it back on.

I stepped out of the shadows, as some black smoke followed me. I tapped his shoulder.

"Right here sweetheart." I smiled as in one swift movement, I took the taser and held it to his neck.

"HELP! CODE 901!" He wriggled in my grasp as he looked at the taser getting closer to his neck. His teeth snapped as he growled at me.

"Shhh. Why waste your energy? You need to preserve your energy… preserve it for me." I dropped the taser and kicked it to the other side of the room, hearing the scraping of the metal as it slid. I held his head in place as brought my lips closer to his face.

I told myself I would wait for a human… a whitecoat. But I didn't have patience. An eraser would do just fine.

I whispered in his ear. "Look into my eyes. Can you feel me?" I smiled. I squeezed his head as he screamed in agony. I could stop if I wanted but I needed his energy. His aura was merging with mine. "Come on! LOOK into my eyes!" I was breathing harder now.

The erasers mouth opened as he fell to his knees. His eyes pleaded for me to stop but why would I? He was worthless. He fell into a pile and his remains faded into pure white ashes. I smiled in satisfaction. My energy was restored… the darkness from him was gone... not gone per say... maybe transferred was a better word. He was pure again. I did him a favor.

The door was still open. I still had a chance. I started towards the door when 3 whitecoats came running down the hallway.

"DON'T MOVE!" The whitecoats pointed a taser at me. "We have an attempted escapee. It's Mai." The talked into their earpieces.

I forced tears to fall from my face. "No, no, you don't understand!" I hiccupped. "That eraser came in and tried to attack me! I was too weak to fight and he was taunting me. The lights suddenly turned off and I don't know what came over me! I attacked him." I fell to my knees and crawled back to my usual corner. "It wasn't my fault. I'M SORRY. It wasn't supposed to happen."

The whitecoats were shocked at my outburst. I had about 2-3 of these a month just to keep them at bay. They flipped the switch and closed the door. I smiled as the lights came on, instantly making me feel weaker.

_Neona, hurry up. I can't keep taking energy from these people. I don't have any more patience. _

I overheard the whitecoats talking about me outside my door. "She killed another one! What is this? The seventh one this month? She still hasn't controlled herself."

"If we plan to use her instead of specimen 2456, she needs more time to develop."

"Specimen 2456 is willing to cooperate. _She, _Mai, is absolutely ridiculous. We are wasting our time and effort on her."

"I agree. Mai is here rotting away in this cell while Specimen 2456 is field training and doing all the missions that were assigned for Mai. I say we kill Mai soon. She's a waste of Omega's resources."

Specimen 2456. It couldn't be. It's _her_. It couldn't be though… I smiled. 2456. What a gem. What did they say? She was cooperating with them? Well if I know her well, and I do, she's master planning.

I scoffed. The whitecoats… they're all idiots. When their own creation looks them in the face and destroys them, I'll have front row seats. But then again, I always do. I have a free lifetime pass to everyone's mind. What can you do.

I looked at the white ashes in the middle of the room, feeling no regret as to what I've done. Many mutants avoided me, thinking that I was evil. But as my mom always said, darkness doesn't always equate to evil…. Just as light doesn't always mean good.

**0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000****0000000000000**

**Hope you guys liked it. Give me feedback or any ideas :) REVIEW!**

**~Harmony **


	31. White Hawk Down

**AYYY Guys wassup! I can't believe that it's been more than 30 chapters WHATTT.**

**I'm trying to bring more Max into the story because there of course has to be Maximum Ride soooo I'm trying to put more of her perspective into this. Also, I have a plan for this story and I kind of know where and when it's going to end but writing stories on Fanfiction is surprisingly really fun so I'm thinking of general plots for my next story. I originally started this because 1) really can't stand wingless fics and 2) I kept envisioning scenarios for the flock and I decided to write them out. (And I also didn't expect people to actually READ this much less have a bunch of reviews) SO, for my next fic, send me what you guys want to read about... I'm thinking maybe a spin off from this, and it'll be about Mai's life, Ember's life, or anything really. I'll seriously do anything if I like it ;)**

**ANYWAY, Enjoy this chapter and REVIEW to send me suggestions for my next story! **

**(Suggestions and ideas can be about a character from this fic, or a completley new idea! I'm literally up for anything.)**

**~Harmony**

**P.S: Random thought - The chapter name is White Hawk Down (You'll understand at the end of the chapter) but the name came from the book which was later made into a movie, called Black Hawk Down. I'm not one for intense violence but this book was SO good! It's a true-story of the war in Somalia and the United Nations and if you aren't a book person (which I assume you are considering we're on fanfiction lol), then you can watch the movie. **

**Also praying to any countries that are a target of terrorism. There's a lot of violence in this world right now and it's probably not going to get any better anytime soon. Stay safe! **

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Chapter 31: White Hawk Down

MAI P.O.V

I slowly blinked. My dark eyelashes were in my peripheral view as I squinted. God I hate this bright light so much. I closed my eyes again, finding comfort in the dark. It must be night if I woke up. The nighttime is when I can mostly be active so I'm usually awake all night. There were muffled voices outside my door. I moved closer to it and put my ear against the cool metal.

"I told you, she's useless. She won't cooperate with us!"

"I give the orders around here. We are NOT killing her. She's a fine specimen and she is very, very smart… and very, very dangerous. Believe me."

"Then what about moving her into a more isolated area?"

"That is an idea that I have thought about and have already acted upon. She going to be moved tomorrow. There's a small island off the coast of Southern California that is sole property of Omega. There was only one other hybrid that has lived there."

"You mean Specimen 2456?"

"Yes. She was a wreck when she got there. Disobedient, vulgar, violent and uncontrollable."

"Now?"

"Now, she is completely in control, listens well. She may not be as powerful as Mai but she gets the job done."

"Hm. Then I assume Mai will become better if we send her there."

"Positive." I heard feet shuffling away. "Send me those reports as soon as possible. We'll need to get everything prepared."

"Yes, Dr. Batchelder."

I gasped and backed away into my corner. It was that bastard Jeb. He was the cause of me becoming catatonic. I wanted to tear him apart, limb by limb. I told myself to breathe. There were bigger problems in the world. I took a breath.

_Neona! Where are you? They're moving me into isolation tomorrow…you have to get here quickly._

I prayed that she got the message. It only works through these walls sometimes.

'_We're coming! We'll be there today!' _

I sighed in relief. They were coming. I would be free. Finally.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

MAX P.O.V

"Max!" Neona looked at me with big, blue eyes. "We have to go now! Mai said they're moving her to isolation tomorrow!"

"Okay. Don't worry. We're leaving soon. We have to go over the plan once more to make sure that nothing goes wrong." I stroked her hair and told her to go to the other kids.

I faced my flock. "Okay here's what we're going to do. There's six of us and three kids. Sadly, yet thankfully, it seems like the school has forgotten about us original flock. The kids are running the show now. They're the ones tortured and caged, they are the ones who break in and out and they are the heroes now."

Gazzy looked skeptical. "Do you think they really forgot about us?"

"Of course they didn't forget us." Iggy ran his fingers through his hair as he spoke. "They're just temporarily ignoring us."

"They know where we are and what we're doing but they're priority is on something else. They have something else in mind. Something bigger than all of this." Angel mentioned around her as she spoke.

"Okay enough talk." Everyone gave a surprised look at Nudge.

"Whattttt?" Gazzy looked pretended to look confused. "Did that just come out of your mouth?"

"Oh shut up." Nudge rolled her eyes. "So Iggy and I drew up a plan on how we're getting inside." She rolled out a sheet of paper with a birds eye view of the Omega building.

"So how are we getting in?" Neona asked me.

I pointed to the back of the building on the paper. "This is the back of the building. There's a vent that's big enough for us to crawl through one by one. We'll get around the building through the vents."

"There's security camera's all over the hallways and there's erasers patrolling the halls. We're trying to avoid fighting as much as possible." Nudge explained.

"The vents lead to a training room where they train mutants to fight. From there, we'll have to be very careful and any eraser that we see, we'll have to kill." Gazzy said casually and Phoenix's eyes became wide.

"But don't worry." Iggy laughed nervously. "It'll be fine." He patted her head. "Once we're out of that room, we'll have to search until we find where Mai is being held."

I looked at everyone's nervous faces. "Got it?"

Everyone nodded. "Okay let's go!"

I led everyone to the electric fence that blocked trespassers. I threw a branch at the fence and emitted sparks as it fell.

"Well the fence works." Fang said.

"Obviously." I retorted. "Nudge, do your thing."

Nudge put her hands near the fence and closed her eyes. She followed the fence along the building until she got to a pole. She dug into the ground and used her power to break the metal, stopping the flow of electricity. She jumped up and touched the fence. "Let's go."

We climbed over the fence and dropped down. We ran to the vent. Fang unscrewed it and put the sheet against the brick wall.

"Wait." Angel stopped me and froze. "I hear someone coming."

I got into a fighting stance, ready for whoever I'd have to beat up. I heard footsteps coming around the corner. Before I could even see who it was, I grabbed their wrist, flipping them onto their back. I kicked them in stomach and wrapped my fingers around his neck waiting until he took his last breath. I would have just snapped his neck but he might have screamed and created noise.

Without hesitation, I mentioned everyone to follow me into the vent. Fang fixed the plate back. We could hear conversations coming from different rooms. _Whitecoats. _I remembered the pathway to the training room and kept crawling forward. Soon, we were in the training room. There was no one here.

I turned to the flock and whispered. "Lets find the room. If we get lost, you know where to meet up." We spilled into the hallway, hiding behind corners. Occasionally, we came across an eraser and we'd have to kill them but for the most part, this area was completely empty. I held my breath and waited until a whitecoat passed us. I looked back at the flock.

"Wait, where's Nudge?" There were only 8 of us.

Gazzy looked behind him. "She was just here a second ago!"

"Did they take her?" I started to get worried. I told myself not to panic. "Lets keep going. Keep an eye out for Nudge."

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

NUDGE P.O.V

I was standing in a room. The control room. I was looking at screens and monitors that showed everything. Literally everything. I was following the flock when I saw this room. The key to destroying everything was in here. And I was alone. I looked through papers and files. My eyes got wider and wider as I learned new information.

"So this is what they want to do. This is _not_ happening againnn." I inwardly whined.

I saw files with our names, Phoenix and Neona's name. They've been tracking us this whole time.

_Okay. This is what you prepared for. _

I took the tracker that I made out of my backpack. I opened the hard drive of the computer and replaced it with the chip I made. I found the primary database and changed the original code of the program.

Suddenly, I heard screaming. I looked at the monitors. I saw the flock in a room filled with lights. They were fighting erasers. When I looked closer, there was a girl in the corner observing everything. That must be Mai. Tall, tanned skin, long dark wavy hair and green-yellow eyes that were somewhat cat shaped.

I looked for the blueprints and ran towards the room. As soon as I got there, an eraser took a swipe at me. I blocked his fist and elbowed him in the face. I roundhouse kicked him and he fell backwards.

Mai was yelling something at me. "Flip the switch!"

I looked around. There was a switch right outside the room. I ran towards it but staggered backwards as the Eraser blocked me. I cupped my hands and slapped them against its ears as it howled in pain, his eardrums exploding from the pressure.

It all happened so fast. Too fast. I lunged forward and flipped the switch. But the eraser that I hurt lept at Mai who was on the floor. As I flipped the switch, the lights became dim and Mai stood up.

"Mai, watch out!" Neona jumped in front of Mai just as the eraser swiped at her. The eraser clawed Neona and she fell backwards onto the hard tile floor with a look of defeat in her eyes.

All that was left was black smoke where Mai was.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**REVIEWWW ;) **

**~Harmony **


End file.
